| The flickering cocoa industry in Davao del Sur |
| Written by Eldie S. Aguirre | |
| Wednesday, 18 June 2008 | |
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The glowing ‘beam of light’ for the cocoa industry of Davao del Sur flickers in the midst of a black hole; as farmers turned their back from it, and embraces more viable and profitable agricultural crops that could save them from starvation.
From the whooping 5,000 hectares of fruit-bearing cocoa trees that spread all over 15 towns of Davao del Sur during the Marcos Era, it gradually dropped since the beginning of 1986.
Total extinction is eminent if the government and private corporations involved in the production and processing of this sweet delicacy will not initiate immediate actions to save the cocoa industry in this province.
The Cocoa Investors Incorporated (CII) in Hagonoy town and Hacienda San Miguel in Malita owned and operated by Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco with more than two thousand hectares of cocoa trees including more than a hundred hectares in Sta. Maria were uprooted and replanted with durian and mango following the ouster of former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
Some small and medium scale cocoa growers followed. Others shifted to mango and banana production or just offer it for rent giving vast opportunity for big banana plantations such as the Lapanday Development Corporation (Ladeco) to expand its area in Davao del Sur.
The provincial agriculture office said a total of 1,250 hectares remain standing in the municipalities of Sta. Maria, Malita, Sta. Cruz and Bansalan. But growers who tried to cling and hold their positions are prone to the alluring temptation of dollar-earning agricultural crops that could double their profit.
Growing cocoa trees is tedious on its first two years giving a ‘goose’ bump among farmers if it could survive the changing weather.
However, when it reaches 5 years old, a hectare could bring in 1.2 ton of dried beans. In the late 90’s, cocoa beans commands a higher price of P50 to P60 per kilo, but it slumped to P25 per kilo in the 21st century that forced farmers to shift from cocoa to banana, mango and durian that appeared to be more profitable than that of cocoa production.
At this point, the agriculture office said farmers are just producing a maximum of 800 kilos of dried cocoa beans per hectare due to heavy infestation and lack of technical knowledge.
With proper techniques and financial assistance, Davao del Sur could still retain its image as one of the potential sources of cocoa beans in the region, especially when farmers would refuse to give up their lands to agri-industrial firms that engulfed vast and fertile agricultural lands of Davao del Sur with various cash crops that offer more opportunities in the world market.
Today, only few hectares of cocoa now exist in Malita town under the Malita Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MARWABEMCO).
Alberto Brosas owned more than 3 hectares of cocoa farm in Sta. Maria town is one of the remaining farmers that refused to give up even as he express fear that in the long run the cocoa industry in the province would just be a history since some of his fellow growers either shifted to cash crop farming or just let big investors rent their lands.
“It is our desire to control the dwindling number of farmers who stick to cocoa farming by encouraging them to continue producing quality cocoa seeds and tablets as there are still vast domestic market potentials in the country” Solomon stressed.
Some farmers claimed banana farming is more profitable than cocoa, aside from its easy maintenance requirements and export potentials.
Majority of cocoa farmers preferred banana and mango due to its huge difference in annual profit as against time and financial investments.
In San Isidro, Davao del Norte local officials are working hard to save the cocoa industry by granting financial assistance and soft loans to farmers who are supplying cocoa tablets in hotels and restaurants in the country.
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