By Angeline Valencia
Soon, Carmen will not just be known as
Chocolate Hills—the cluster of around 1,700 hills that turns brown like chocolates on summer—but also for the edible chocolate from cacao.
Upon the invitation of Rep. Arthur Yap, Ducth company Kennemer Foods International, Inc. (KFII)— a major exporter of cacao—established a cacao nursery in Bicao, Carmen town.
KFII president Simon Bakker, Yap, Land Bank of the Philippines lending division head Cecil Clarite and LBP manager Marilou Cardenas joined partner farmers in the ceremonial planting of cacao stalks in a portion of the nursery.
Carmen Samahang Nayon Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CSNMPC) recently launched the Cacao production project at the nursery site.
Yap said he will be providing the cooperative with a P100-thousand seed money from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
Yap also proposed that launching
Chocolate from Chocolate Hills can be a catching slogan for the project.
Bakker said their Davao project came first and the Carmen project is the first in the Visayas.
KFII came to know Carmen after Yap invited him to explore the town for their expansion.
So Bakker came and studied the soil and rainfall pattern in the last 10 years, and found Carmen to be suitable for the nursery site and for planting.
The CSNMPC embraced the project as represented by its Board of Directors chair Rosa Dumagan, BOD vice chair Dick Torrefranca, BOD secretary Rosita Dumapias and coop manager Ajoc.
Bicao Barangay Captain Galo also expressed support to the project.
In the partnership scheme, KFII maintains the nursery which will be the source of planting materials that the farmers will grow in their lands. They will get the planting materials through a loan with LBP with KFII as their guarantor.
KFII buys all the produce from the cacao plantation of the farmers.
KFII, a cacao exporter, supplies the raw materials to
large chocolate companies in Europe, United States, Netherlands, and some countries in Asia such as Marsh Delights.
The main concept is to produce a Bohol brand of cacao.
The newly-launched nursery in Bicao, Carmen is already good for 250 hectares with 250,000 mature seedlings at 1,000 seedlings per hectare for commercial planting.
“This will generate around P100,000 per hectare per year for the farmers. We provide the seedlings and we have a technology team here, and the farmers buy the seedlings with loan from Land Bank of the Philippines,†Baker said.
He explained that the farmers can start harvesting on the third year, with small harvest for the first 18 months and larger harvest every six months after.
At an average farm size of 1.5 hectares per farmer, the initial batch of 250,000 hectares can involve 200 farmers, Bakker added.
The nursery already includes an area for expansion that will house the additional 250,000 seedlings for next batch.
Bakker said the project can have up to two bathes per year or an expansion growth of 500-600 hectares per year.
“We involve around 250 farmers per batch. After six months, we can grow another batch of seedlings for the next batch of farmers. We grafted the seedlings from Davao which is our source of raw materials. Then we select the tree and use the parent stalk. We are an export-oriented agricultural trading company. We operate predominantly in Mindanao, particularly Davao City,†Bakker said.
For his part, Precioso Patindol of the ATI Regional Training Center, said the funds for the season-long training for technicians in cacao production is ready by now.
By first week of November, they can already start the training involving the high-value crops coordinators from different local government units.
Then in 16-weeks, the farmers undergo field schooling for cacao production, Patindol said.
He said they already have 13 initial farmer partners and Carmen Mayor Conchita Toribio delos Reyes is expected to be the 14th as she already interest to develop nine hectares of her property for the cacao project.
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Topic: Chocolate from Cacao Made in Bohol, Philippines (Read 2934 times)