WHILE Mindanao still has wide areas to accommodate expansion of high-value crops, a former Davao City councilor said the oil palm industry should leverage on this growth.
Peter Laviña said that Mindanao is ripe for oil palm and it has a good a climatic condition suitable for the planting of oil palm seedlings.
Also, the industry is slowly getting the support of some government agencies.
In Paquibato area, he said it has some 1,000 hectares of idle lands that can be planted with oil palm.
Even though most of these lands are hilly, there are crop varieties that can grow there. For instance, farmers in northern Thailand are still able to cash in on oil palm, although their location is much hillier.
The irrigation is not going to be a problem since Mindanao is getting enough rain for the plants to survive.
Laviña, who is a member of Philippine Palm Oil Development Council (PPDCI), though cited three problems that need to be addressed so as not to hinder the industry growth: land ownership, lack of seedlings, and milling facilities.
He said no investors will be willing to put their money at stake in lands that are not yet settled, citing parts of Paquibato where indigenous people (IPs) claim land ownership.
"It takes many years to settle CADT (Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title)," he added.
Different foreign companies are looking at several areas in Mindanao for possible partnership. Among them are from Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Malaysia.
"There are many foreigners who are looking at our areas here because we have a good rainfall, climatic conditions, and sufficient labor," he added.
Among the areas these prospective investors are looking at are parts of Maguindanao, Lanaodel Sur, Basilan, and Sultan Kudarat.
On the supply of seedlings, Laviña said the country has no nursery for oil palm yet and that most of its seedlings are imported from Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Costa Rica, and West Africa sold from P200 to P220 a seedling.
"We don't have our own germinated seeds, it will take us many years to have our own variety," he said.
On the milling facilities, Laviña said there are six spread across Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Bohol, and Palawan. But, each oil palm-growing area should have at least one milling plant, otherwise local farmers will be burdened with the transport cost.
There were five Malaysian companies who are looking at the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (Armm) as potential areas for oil palm plantations.
Malaysia Trade (Matrade) senior manager Har Man Ahmad said each company will need at least 5,000 hectares for the oil palm plantation if the push comes to shove.
Around 2,000 to 3,000 of estimated jobs will be generated per 5,000 hectares, as oil palm plantation is a labor-intensive investment.
Aside from oil palm, Matrade is also looking at investing in the Information and Communications Technology, particularly in the cities of Cagayan and Davao.