MANILA, Philippines--Will there be 50 million cacao trees planted by our farmers by the year 2020?

That’s the target of the cacao road map crafted a few of years back. If that dream is realized, the Philippines would be producing annually no less than 100,000 tons of cacao beans by that year.

Responsible for crafting the roadmap is the Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines and other concerned agencies, including ACDI/VOCA, the NGO based in the United States which is implementing the so-called Success Alliance cacao development project, now in its second phase. Other stakeholders like the chocolate processors, members of academe and the Department of Agriculture also helped.

At the recent cacao summit held at the World Trade Center – Metro Manila, the leaders in the industry underscored the urgent need to produce more cacao in the Philippines. The local manufacturers need at least 30,000 tons of cacao beans a year but the local harvest is said to be only 6,000 metric tons.

Josephine Ramos of CocoaPhil reported that from the year 2006 when the program started, no less than 18,000 cacao farmers have been served by extension workers. Some 180 training facilitators have also been trained. About five million trees have been planted and many of these are now starting to bear fruit.

One of the projects that is believed to make an impact on small scale farmers is what is called the Cocopal farming system. Under the scheme, the farmers don’t only plant cacao, they are also assisted in growing coconut and rice.

The Cocopal program is now implemented mainly in Mindanao by ACDI/VOCA in collaboration with four agencies, including CocoaPhil, Landcare Foundation, PhilRice and the Philippine Association of Small Coconut Farmers.

The agencies have their respective territories to cover. For instance, CocoaPhil will concentrate its devel¬opment activities in Davao City and Davao Oriental. Others will conduct their extension efforts in other parts of Mindanao.

According to Armi Pajarito of CocoaPhil, some 25,000 smallhold farmers are targeted to be trained in the Cocopal farming system in three years. The farmers will be planting the three crops in one to five hectares each.

The smallhold farmers undergo a year-long training by attending sessions once a month. A total of 70 demonstration farms will be set up where the farmers can observe the latest techniques in producing their three major crops of cacao, coconut and rice.

Meanwhile, what is needed now is the establishment of nurseries that will propagate the recommended varieties of cacao. No less than 5 million seedlings should be produced every year to meet the requirements of planters.