gricultural industries in Mindanao, lack either funding or someone to coordinate developing them. Among these are the rubber industry, the sweet sorghum, the coffee, the sunflower, the moringga, and a number of other industries that can be developed above their present level. Bananas and pineapple are doing well. Jetropa is a favorite of the administration and is promoting it. Palm oil is flourishing although prices have come down a bit. A recent review of the rubber industry, point to the need to promote it. There are thousands of hectares idle at present in Mindanao that can be planted to rubber especially the hilly areas and reforestation areas. There is a ready market for it both local and export. There is even a latex processing plant in Talakag, Bukidnon run by a former AIM graduate that is operating at 5% of capacity. The Japanese rubber boots factory in Malaybalay is worried that there will not be enough raw material in the near future. One disadvantage of raw rubber is that it is a commodity, just like cacao, where the pricing is set on an international basis. Control of prices is not within the supply and demand relationship within the country but on the world supply and demand. Twenty years ago cacao was at $5,000 a ton. Then a bumper crop appeared in Brazil and Africa and the price tumbled to $800 a ton. Although the Philippines was a net importer the price was set by the world market. Similarly rubber seven years ago was down to R5 a kilo of cup lumps (many farmers cut their trees down) it rose to R55 a kilo last year. Ten trees would give the owner R500 a month supplemental income and a hundred trees (about a third of a hectare) would be sufficient to support a farm family.

The advantages of rubber are that there will be a continuing demand although its price fluctuates considerably. There is no substitute for rubber for airplane tires but its biggest demand is for automobiles. Malaysia is not expanding its rubber industry. Malaysia together with Indonesia and Thailand have close to two million hectares each of rubber, compared to just about 100 thousand hectares for the Philippines. The industry has passed recently through difficult times. The plantations in Basilan were subjected to agrarian reform and peace and order problems. With recent lending laws limiting loans to seven years, the Development Bank of the Philippines was forced to abandon financing of rubber tree. The potential for development are in Northern Mindanao especially Bukidnon for small farmers instead of big plantations. Mr. Valdehuesa was thinking of harnessing the barangay structure for the planting of rubber trees as a supplementary crop for small farmers and for reforestation.

The practical problem of the industry faces is nurseries to be able to supply the need for planting material. Gathering seeds is not a problem but the budding would require training and the sourcing of good bud material. Tapping later on would also need training otherwise it would destroy the trees or not maximize production. Accordingly, the market, the technology and clone varieties are available. The funding sources could also be found. What is missing is a champion to make the industry create jobs and give income to our small farmers and help reforest the denuded areas. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>