DAVAO City Councilor Marissa Abella wants to legislate the adoption of best farming practices taken from the National Cacao Congress to improve the productivity of local cacao farms.
In an interview with SunStar Davao on Thursday, November 24, Abella said she is waiting for the release of the farming protocol or guide from the Philippine Cacao Industry Council in order to lobby it to the city council.
"I hope I will legislate that para i-adopt nato ang protocol para start sa pag tanom sa cacao is really quality na. Ma-adopt na sa tanan na nursery, farmers na mao na gyod ang gamiton (so we can adopt the protocols and we can start farming with really good quality),” she said.
Abella, who is also the chair of the Committee on Food and Agriculture, pointed out that one farm practice she is currently studying is improving the growth of cacao seedlings by changing the polyethylene (PE) plastic bags.
She said bigger PE bags encourages the growth of the cacao seedling’s root system compared to the smaller plastic bags currently being used in most farms which limits growth.
"Naa isa ka farm na nag use of bigger bags, karon naga-yield na sila four tons per hectare (One farm is using bigger bags for their seedlings and now they yield four tons per hectare)," Abella said, adding that it could be one of the farming practices that could be adopted.
Fe Oguio, focal person for cacao of the City Agriculturist Office (Cagro), said the city is starting to adopt good practices in nursery management. She said seedlings from the city government conform to the standards of the Bureau of Plant Industry.
"Padayon ang (We are continuing the) High-Value Commercial Crops Development Program. Mismo pud sa atong office and atong central nursery is nagahatag og seedlings (Our central nursery under our office also provides seedlings),” Oguio told SunStar Davao.
As of 2021, Oguio said Davao City produced approximately 7,000 metric tons of cacao beans while 15,000 MT of dried cacao beans is produced nationwide.
The Philippine Cacao Industry expressed the desire to increase the cacao production of the country, specifically 50,000 MT by 2026 thus the industry focuses on improving farm practices to improve yield. ICM