The roadmap was presented yesterday by Josephine Ramos, field operations manager of the Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines (CocoaPhil), at the Department of Agriculture. CocoaPhil is a private foundation headed by Edward F. David.

The roadmap was undertaken by a task force organized by the NAFC-Cocoa Industry Development Subcommittee in Sept. 2005. It identifies four target areas where intensified cacao production could be intensified. Cluster 1 includes Apayao and Kalinga in the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Cagayan Valley; Cluster 2 is Calabarzon and Bicol; Cluster 3 is Palawan and Panay; and Cluster 4 is Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Davao provinces and Misamis Oriental.

Actually, the current initiative in promoting cacao production started in 2002 through the program called Success Alliance. This stands for Sustainable Cocoa Extension Services for Smallholders. It was funded by the USAID with a grant of 0,000. Under the Success Alliance Phase I, the program was able to train trainors as well as farmers on basic propagation and management of cacao. It was also able to establish scion groves and nurseries in the regions mentioned above. Initial plantings have also been made. One grower in Laguna is Policarpio Abary who had already planted 5,000 seedlings last year and has now 10,000 seedlings ready for planting this year in a coconut plantation in Caliraya. In the Cordillera, the first plantings are starting to bear fruit.

Nine varieties have also been identified for planting in the Philippines. These include varieties and strains from Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Ivory Coast and old selections from the Philippines.

Cacao production is being promoted because of the shortage of local production despite the big demand. In 2004, local production totalled only 5,648 tons of dried beans. That year, the Philippines had to import 34,158 metric tons. Besides the big local demand, there is a ready market in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China. The Philippines, if it has the production, could easily sell to these countries no less than 100,000 metric tons of dried beans a year. There are also even bigger potential markets in Europe and the United States.

The Philippines has its own strengths relative to cacao production besides the ready market. It has suitable climate and there is a big area that is good for cacao production. The coconut farms alone, which occupy 3.1 million hectares, could be intercropped with cacao. The varieties are available and so is the right technology.

However, the improved technologies should be disseminated to the farmers. The planting materials should be made available at reasonable cost, and the inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides should be more affordable. Also, quality standards should be developed.

There are other problems which have to be addressed. These include lack of information on market opportunities and prices which are the farmers’ major basis in making sound decision to sustain or expand cacao growing. Right now, there is non-economical volume and quality of supply which discourages the presence of buyers in the production areas. The task force also observes that the supply chain is incohesive and fragmented due to unorganized cacao growers.

Phase 2 of Success Alliance starts this year and will run up to 2009. Further training of farmers will be conducted and mass propagation of recommended varieties will be undertaken. An American cocoa expert, Nicholas Richards, will be the team leader in the implementation of Success Alliance 2. He will come from Vietnam where he headed a similar program on cocoa production.

Richards said that Vietnam has a small cocoa industry but is fast expanding. It has learned its lesson from its coffee production which expanded very fast without the proper selection of varieties and the lack of quality standards. In cocoa production, the Vietnamese are now emphasizing the use of the right varieties and instituting quality standards of the end product.

The roadmap has identified some of the necessary interventions besides the use of high-yielding and resistant varieties. The task force has emphasized postharvest and marketing interventions such as the establishment of fermentation and drying centers that would serve as quality assurance facilities, supply/market collection points, group access to farm inputs, and market-price, supply/demand information centers.

Other inteventions would be the linking of growers with buyers and processors, development of new chocolate products, advocacies on environment and health values of cacao.. The credit and finance interventions include the development of lending and payment scheme for the establishment and operation of cacao postharvest centers, credit services for collective purchases of farm inputs or fertilizer loans, credit services for collective marketing/establishment and operation of cluster market centers.

Also stressed are the research and development interventions not only locally but also with the help of foreign agencies.

The cocoa production program envisions to produce in 10 years 337,000 metric tons of well fermented and dried cacao beans; 35 million productive trees; 60,000 hectares developed with 500 cacao trees per hectare; 60,000 farm families provided with attitional source of income; and 787,500 on-farm jobs.

RED LADY PAPAYA. Robust seedlings of Red Lady papaya are now available at the Teresa Orchard & Nursery in Teresa, Rizal. The seedlings are all-female that produce a lot of ripe fruits starting eight months from planting. More information could be had by texting or calling 0917-997-6194. Other planting materials of exotic fruit trees such as Golden Queen mango, Chokanan mango from Thailand, latexless jackfruit from Malaysia, longkong lanzones from Thailand and sweet sampalok are also available.