Stakeholders push for commercialization of cassava, upland rice in Samar

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
February 22, 2012

CALBIGA, Samar  –  With the end in view of fast tracking the commercialization of cassava and upland rice in Samar Island which is piloted in Calbiga, the key players in the collaborative project recently met to map up a work plan indicating the specific strategies to be undertaken this year.

Department of Agriculture Region 8 Director Antonio Gerundio informed that the two-day Planning Workshop and Collaborative Meeting held at the Spark Function Hall, Calbiga, Samar on February 16-17, 2012, was in by representatives from the National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR), Department of Agriculture-8 (DA-8), farmers’ associations, Municipal Social Welfare Development (MSWD) and the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Calbiga, who are all committed towards pushing for the production of upland rice and cassava from home-consumption level, to a surplus, commercial scale in the Samar Province and exploit their huge market opportunities.

The strategies were focused on the provision of inputs, infrastructure and mechanization and the conduct of technology-transfer activities/training and information, education and communication (IEC) approaches.

The project, which forges public-private partnership concept, has been initially implemented in Calbiga, Samar last year and is determined to expand eventually to cover the entire province of Samar.

It was conceptualized as a strategy for achieving sustainable rural development by piloting the municipality as an agribusiness model that will exploit the opportunities available, the commercialization of upland rice and cassava, towards achieving sustainable rural development.

“Rural development is all about intensified food production and market linkage. Today, the actors who can make these aspects of the value chain work shall join forces for development to come into fruition in this part of the region,” DA-8’s Regional Executive Director Antonio G. Gerundio said during the launching in august last year.

Techno-demo farms have already been established in Calbiga for the two focus commodities showcasing the appropriate farming practices and at the same time, serving as an area for varietal trials and propagation of planting materials.

For cassava, 5 of the 20-hectare techno-demo are already planted with the crop, Mr Allan Gojoco, the project manager said. Overall, the project aims to cover 500 hectares for upland rice and 2,500 hectares for cassava.

“With this target, we hope to raise the average yields of upland rice and cassava from 1.8 tons/ha to 3.0 tons/ha and from 3.07 tons/ha to 12 tons/ha, respectively,” Project Head Ms Melody de Guzman revealed.

Samar Island is among the more depressed areas in the country, yet possesses great potentials for agribusiness development. Upland rice and cassava are two traditional crops grown in the island, but largely for home consumption. The local market potentials for both crops are tremendous, especially cassava which is a critical input for animal feeds.

This undertaking of improving the productivity of upland rice and cassava in Calbiga runs parallel to the thrusts of the government on attaining rice sufficiency by 2013 and addressing critical gaps in food sufficiency by making cassava as an alternative staple crop and substitute for rice.