By Manny Piñol
The 2-day Abaca Production Workshop attended by over 200 farmers, mostly members of the Tribal Communities in Central Mindanao, ended Saturday with actual field demonstrations.
Agriculture Undersecretary for High Value Crops Evelyn Laviña and Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) Kennedy Costales led participants in actual field works which included planting Abaca suckers and the stripping of Abaca to produce the fibers.
The farmers were taught by PHILFIDA technicians on the correct planting methods, including the proper distancing.
After the field planting, participants were shown how to strip Abaca to produce fibers using a locally fabricated stripping machine.
Yesterday’s field activity followed a one-day workshop where the participants listened to lectures on how to intercrop Abaca with rubber trees, coconut, Cacao, Coffee, Black Pepper and industrial trees like Falcata and Gmelina.
The Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) briefed the farmers on how to avail of production loans while the Phippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) delivered a lecture on crop insurance coverage.
The participants received Certificates of Completion of training which would be one of the requirements before they could avail of loans from the Department of Agriculture.
A group of Manobo Abaca farmers also received a commitment of 10 mountain horses to be used in transporting Abaca from the highland farms to the stripping area.
The DA through Regional Office 12 will also provide them with 30 units of stripping machines.
(Video of Abaca stripping demo taken by Mayette Tudlas.)
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