ALTERNATIVE income has been proposed for Benguet farmers.
Benguet Governor Crescencio Pacalso said a continuous monitoring of the production of cacao in the province will be done following the launching of a sustainable cacao production program in the province.
Pacalso said site visits will be done to check on the progress of the cacao farmers.
To sustain the program, a three-day cacao production training was done in July in Puguis by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and Provincial Government of Benguet with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) with 44 participants composed of farmers and workers from 10 municipalities.
The program aims to strengthen cacao production in the province and provide alternative source of livelihood for farmers with the sale of cacao based products like coffee, chocolates and skin care products.
The training was conducted in support to the cacao development program of the province which will train agricultural extension workers and farmers to serve as trainers in a bid to enhance knowledge and skills.
Agriculturist II Brent Atew said a total of 2,370 cacao seedlings were given to the first batch of recipients composed of seven participants in Tuba, six each in Kapangan, Kapayan, and Atok, four in Bakun, Itogon, La Trinidad, and Sablan, three in Tublay and one in Kibungan.
Batiw said the recipients received 50 seedlings which were already planted and are being monitored for the past two years.
During the training, the cacao roadmap in the Philippines was presented with an introduction to the Cacao Plant topics included; Cacao Production Protocol/ Environmental & Climatic Requirements of Cacao, Cacao Nutrition, Trichoderma, Nursery Establishment and Crop Establishment, Cacao Expert, Farm Establishment, Insect Pest Management in Cacao, Demonstration and Practicum on Grafting Cacaos are said to be suitable between 400 to 800 meters above sea level.
Cacao expert, Eugenio Palispis from Tuba, has been growing cacao sourced from Davao and oversaw the release of seedlings given to farmers.
The seedlings, from the UF18 and BR25 varieties approved by the National Seed Industry Council, are expected to flower within 16 months with cacao fruits to follow after a month while the UF18 variety bears fruit early and is said to be high yielding.
Lino Cungihan from DTI said there will a huge shortage of cacao in the future and the consumption of cacao based products will be increasing worldwide.