TITAY, Zamboanga Sibugay -- The least known palm oil industry in the province has got a new advocate pushing for its promotion as "a viable high-value crop" farmers can consider.
Leonardo Talania, in mixed English and local dialect, said "not known to many, palm oil as a crop is a revenue generator even better than the traditional rubber."
Talania, who is now the mayor of Titay town in Zamboanga Sibugay, usually spent his early morning everyday supervising the 150-hectare palm oil plantation he owns. The plantation is nestled across the border of Titay town and Kalawit town in Zamboanga del Norte.
He started planting palm oil in 2007 on a 15-hectare land after he learned about palm oil from other palm oil farmers in other parts of Mindanao.
According to Talania, unlike rubber and other crops, palm oil raw products are not prone to thief.
"It is easy for people to steal raw rubber and sell it to buyers without you knowing it," he said. But no chance for people to steal in the case of palm oil, he added.
Above all, he confided, palm oil farming could be a viable alternative with the problem besetting the rubber industry. The price of raw rubber plummeted to as low as P20 per kilo, now rises to P40, from more than P100 a kilo in 2004, a phenomenon attributed by industry experts as part of the world market trend.
Of Talania's 150 hectares palm oil, 65 hectares are productive. And he expects the whole area planted to palm oil will be fully productive this year.
"In terms of financial return, the palm oil commands a higher rate," Talania said.
At present, the 65 hectares have a total yield of 65,000 kilograms or 65 tons for every 11 days. Each ton commands a price of P4,100.
Talania's palm oil plantation is the first in Zamboanga Sibugay. All over the country, there are only about 70,000 hectares of land planted to oil palm.
In nearby province of Zamboanga del Norte, Zanorte Palm Rubber Plantation is investing P737 million for an oil palm plantation in 2012. The project was already approved by the Board of Investments, entitling it to a package of tax and fiscal incentives including income tax holiday.
Adrian Cristobal, managing head, said the Zanorte project will help expand the country's agro-industries and create much needed employment opportunities in rural areas. It will also help boost the palm oil industry, which is among the sectors the government has identified for industry development.
The Zanorte plantation, located in the towns of Sirawai and Sibuco, is expected to produce oil palm fruits used as raw materials for crude oil palm oil production and dried palm kernel by-products.
Records have shown that the country has imported about 550,000 tons of refined palm oil, the primary processed product of palm oil, in 2011. Malaysia supplies 80 percent of the country's requirement. The remaining 20 percent, roughly estimated at 120,000 tons, is sourced domestically.
Industry experts believe that as the country grows, the demand for palm oil will tremendously increase.
The Palm Oil Industry Development Council has estimated a potential of about one million hectares suitable for palm oil. In the province, no less than 4,000 hectares are being eyed as potential for palm oil.
"There is a growing interest for palm oil in the province now," the mayor said.
Some local government leaders, he said, are "expressing interest in the palm oil unlike in the past where most of the people are adamant to the idea."
In the locality, Talania added, the local government will "try to encourage the planting of palm oil in unutilized idle lands to make it productive."
The province is the top producer of rubber of the country. But the nascent palm oil sector might yet prove to be another viable route to poverty alleviation. (Sunnex)