Agriculture Business Week

Davao City – International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group has been showing Davao agribusiness leaders how Rainforest Alliance certification can benefit the entire supply chain, including big companies, small farming communities, regulators, and consumers.

The internationally recognized certification of sustainable farming practices gives qualifying farms the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, which guarantees consumers that the farms take good care of their workers, communities, and the environment. Certification reduces costs and increases savings for producers by assuring efficient, effective, and environment-friendly farm practices.

“Whether reforesting old farmland, building schools and medical facilities, or providing farm workers with just wages, the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal indicates sustainable practices and a sustainable future,” said Sabrina Vigilante, Rainforest Alliance’s chief of marketing.

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In separate farmers’ field days and fora conducted in Central Mindanao this September, farmers shared how they have benefited from the location-specific technology development (LSTD) program.

“Before, research studies were done only at DA-PhilRice and International Rice Research Institute. Now, we are doing research in our own barangay,” said Fred Daquil, LSTD farmer-innovator in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

Since he started farming, Daquil normally waits for technologies from the agricultural technologist (AT) assigned in their area. Now, Daquil is directly involved in technology development.

Gilbert Romarez, development coordinator of DA-PhilRice Midsayap Experiment Station (DA-PhilRice MES) emphasized LSTD is a research approach where farmers are the main actors in technology development. This will promote technology ownership at the farmer’s level.

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While many have done a good talk on how agriculture can contribute to peace and development in Mindanao, a couple in the island has done a very good work – they have made rebels and their families farm.

They are Drs. Edwin and Rosafe Hondrade. They started the Pagkain Para sa Masu (PPSM), a long-time government project that aims to help the poor in Mindanao, particularly ex-rebels Survive the war by teaching them backyard gardening and other farm ventures.

It is maintained by the Technical Cooperation Project 4, or the Rice-based Farming Systems and Training Support Program for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which is a collaborative project of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries ARMM, and PhilRice.

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It is not unusual when a farmer from Luzon or from Visayas relocates to Mindano for good. What is quite unusual is when a Mindanaoan goes to Luzon and settles there to do his brand of farming.

That’s exactly the case of Jose Paquibongan, an agriculturist born in Bohol but who stayed in Mindanao for several years after graduating from college. Mindoro farmers he has been helping consider him a Mindanaoan rather than a Boholano. Joe finished an agriculture course at the Bohol State College in Bilar in 1984. Immediately after graduation, he went to Mati, Davao Oriental, to help a relative manage a diversified farm where they had coconut, coffee, cacao, guava and farm animals like hogs and goats.

For a number of years, he also worked as rice technician of the Farm Systems Development Corporation in Tagum, Davao del Norte. That was a government agency which was dissolved after President Corazon Aquino took over the helm of the government.

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When I was going around the corn areas in Southern Mindanao, I was again amazed at how our corn growers value time. They make sure that their fields have something planted on it as soon as harvesting is over for the previous crop.  One field I saw the day before had some, people still picking the ears and the dried stalks were still standing. When I went back the following morning, I was surprised to see more than 10 people planting corn seeds on that same field which was probably plowed early in the day. This is remarkable for an agronomist who for many years, have been working with growers that practice crop rotation and appreciate the value of resting the soil for some time before replanting another crop. But of course, the growing environment of Mindanao is very different from that of Central Luzon and this difference dictates the kind of farming system our growers need to adopt.

Several months ago, I wrote an article about the best management practices for corn-after-corn production. A part of it was about the benefit of crop rotation in relation to stress. In relation to this, there is a so-called rotation effect which is an unexplained benefit of crop rotation that results in better yields in comparison with continuous cropping, even if the limiting factors are addresses. In a low-yielding environment, yield reductions become even greater for corn-after-corn versus rotated corn. I enumerated several possible explanations for the rotation effect but it was clear that this concept gave Central Luzon and Ilocos growers an edge over the others in the country. No wonder, they have the best quality grains and highest yields on a per hectare basis.

WHAT IS CROP ROTATION?
This is a broad topic but to simply put it, crop rotation is the practice of growing different plants in succession. The basic rule is that a crop should never follow itself. Crop rotation is a farming system practiced even in ancient times and is often determined by a-region’s topography, climate types, culture, market trends and demand, among others.
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Seed production is one of the profitable businesses nowadays for the simple reason that seed is basic to agriculture and hence, there would always be a need for it. More and more farmers are getting into it, particularly in Mindanao where a number of farmers are earning more from seeds than from commercial rice.

Orlando Fabila of M’lang, Cotabato for instance has shifted from commercial rice production to seed production. It started when he joined the Bureau of Plant Industry’s (BPI) training on seed production, followed by the Ginintuang Makamasa Agriculture program where he learned the appropriate technology.

His first seed harvest was a success. This retired teacher got 100 cavans or 60 kilos of certified seeds from a hectare, and he never had hard time marketing his produce as most farmers in the area plant certified seeds.

“In our area,” says Fabila, “only about 10 percent of the farmers do not use certified seeds.” And this is apparent with the uneven growth of crops.

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The Development Bank of the Philippines has committed to extend an initial P11-million revolving credit line to Sultan Kudarat Muscovado Farmers and Millers Corp. (SKMFC)-to boost its working capital in behalf of the farmers and millers in Sultan Kudarat.

The loan agreement was signed during the recent Second Partners Forum for Promoting Rural Industries and Market Enhancement (PRIME) program at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management auditorium in Quezon City.

SKMFC is one of the country’s leading muscovado producers and the biggest in Mindanao with an average production of about 320 tons of muscovado sugar a month. It is composed of two farmers’ cooperatives, eight individual millers and several farmers. It is based in President Quirino, a fourth class municipality in Sultan Kudarat.

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RENERIO GUEVARRA
Renerio or “Dodong” is a forester with only one functional arm. His left arm was amputated in 1974 due to a vehicular accident. He was riding in a bus from Davao City when the vehicle was side swept by another bus. Unfortunately, his arm was resting on the window and was badly damaged. He was hospitalized for 29 days and lost his left arm as well as his job at the Franklin Baker, a coconut desiccating plant.

Even before the accident, Dodong was already into part-time farming that is why it became his fall back job. Notwithstanding his handicap, he planted sugarcane and corn in a 1.5-hectare farm using traditional technology and hired farm labor. However, he had no assurance that he would always derive a good income from farming. For five years, there were times when the harvest was good, but there were also times when his crops failed, leaving almost nothing for his family.

“It (sugarcane and corn farming) was not like growing rice [using] the new technology and be assured of getting a very good harvest if you do your homework,” Dodong said.

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Eulogio Guira is a migrant from Ilocos Norte, while Renerio Guevarra is a native of Digos City but they have one thing in common: They are the top hybrid rice growers in Mindanao and in the Visayas.

Eulogio, 64, has made Mindanao his second home since he has been there for 50 years. From Brgy. Nagbacalan, Batac, Ilocos Norte, he was brought to Palembang, Sultan Kudarat in 1957 by his uncle who migrated to Mindanao ahead of him.

In his first 15 years in Palembang, he acquired 10 hectares (has) and saved some money despite the traditional technology that he was using. In 1972, however, Sultan Kudarat became very troublesome due to the conflict between the Ilagas and the Muslims.

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Peace in Muslim Mindanao has always been elusive. Besides political reasons, poverty among Muslims aggravates the conflict between the Muslim rebels and the government. To many of the rebels, winning the war that has been raging on for decades is their way of solving their poverty.

Their poverty, however, is not caused by landlessness as there is an abundance of land in Muslim Mindanao. Rather, it is caused by the lack of technology as well as poor motivation among Muslim farmers.

As noted by Sailila Abdula, a Muslim researcher at the Midsayap branch station of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the continuing conflict is fueled by the Muslims’ aspiration for a better life as “most of the people are poor and basic social services are limited.”

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Tourism Books hailed it as one of the best tourist destinations in the Philippines. Former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Dominguez considered it as one of its kind in the country. Discover Philippines touted it as “the Disneyworld of sustainable farming systems.”

All of them are talking about the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc., a non-government organization located at the rolling foothills of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak.

Every year, MBRLC is host to almost 10,000 visitors. Almost daily, groups arrive in batches just to see various farming schemes which the center has developed through the years of experimentation and consultations.

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Zamboanga City — Mindanao’s seaweed exports have almost doubled in 2008, hut the region can ‘t afford to slacken its efforts, for it might put the long-term competitiveness of the seaweed sector at risk, industry, leaders say.

From January to October 2008, exports of processed seaweeds from this port city reached 5,085 metric tons (MT) valued at US$12.6 million. This is a 92 percent increase in volume and 114 percent increase in value over exports for the same period in 2007, according to the Bureau of Customs.

However, shortage of raw seaweeds has surged due to seaweed processing, and this has driven up the price of eucheuma seaweed- it has since dropped sharply due to global financial downturn-   to as high as US$2,900 per MT in September 2008.

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“Pangga” among Visayans means beloved or darling. It is also the popular name of an exotic fish known to Vietnamese as “tra” or Cream Dory(Pangasius hypothalamus) that is making waves in Mindanao.

The first pangga culturist in Mindanao is Dr. Gregorio Domingo, Jr. of Tabuk, Davao City. Doc Greg is a veterinarian by profession who worked for a feed company until he decided to become an aquaculturist.

Doc Greg began his venture with the pangga in May 2002 when he was gifted with 2,000 fingerlings of the fish by Indonesian Consul Karsono Parto Susanto for sharing his expertise on the breeding and culture of the African catfish.

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Peace and order may have been elusive in some parts of Mindanao for some time, and many farmers feel uncomfortable whenever the situation is unstable. In fact, they don’t want to be caught in any crossfire and, hence, they migrated to other parts of the big island where it is relatively peaceful and orderly to be able to concentrate on their farming activities.

Vicente “Enteng” G. Antonio of Brgy. Tagapua, San Francisco, and Rogelio Antalan of Brgy. Kapatungan, Trento, both in Agusan del Sur, are just two of those farmers who escaped the conflict. And they became model farmers in their newfound home.

Born in Kalibo, Aklan in 1950, Enteng was brought by his Ilocano parents to Dadiangas (now Gen. Santos City), South Cotabato in 195 L Three years later, they moved to Norallah, South Cotabato and then to Brgy. Sampao, Isulan, Cotabato (now Sultan Kudarat) because they were searching for greener pasture.

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