HARVEST TIME. Members of the Lingayao Kahayagan Cassava Farmers Association start the processing of harvested cassava from their 30-hectare cassava production farm in the town of Las Nieves in Agusan del Norte. Mayor Avelina S. Rosales targets around 200 hectares of land to be developed as cassava production sites under the Cassava Cluster Development Plan of the municipal government. (Photo from the Facebook page of Las Nieves LGU)
BUTUAN CITY – Upland farmers in Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte are now starting to reap the fruits of their labor in venturing into another agricultural endeavor to earn additional income.
Believing that monocropping is not enough to sustain the needs of their families, the farmers realized that the agricultural enterprise they ventured in last January could help them survive the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“Cassava farming will help us survive from this pandemic and will ensure additional income to our families,” Roberto Calapre of Barangay Lingayao, Las Nieves told the Philippine News Agency on Saturday.
Calapre heads the Lingayao Kahayagan Cassava Farmers Association (LKCFA), a group with about 48 members who partnered with the local government unit of Las Nieves and the Department of Agriculture in Caraga Region (DA-13) for the propagation of cassava.
The association started planting inside the 30-hectare farmland in Lingayao, an area designated for cassava production under the Cassava Cluster Development Plan for 2020-2025 of Las Nieves.
“The planting operations were hindered during the start of the pandemic in March and the imposition of travel restrictions in the following months. But we continued planting cassava in the area by following the protocols,” Calapre said.
He thanked Las Nieves Mayor Avelina S. Rosales for allowing the group to utilize the units of tractors owned by the LGU.
“The tractors helped us fast-track the land preparations in the 30-hectare area. By March, we were already planting despite the pandemic,” Calapre said.
Harvesting started in the last week of November and until now, association members are focusing their efforts on completing the task before the year ends, he added.
“The machineries provided to us by the DA in Caraga helped us in moving forward with the harvesting. The DA provided us with two units of cassava chippers and two units of cassava granulators,” Calapre said.
Aside from the tools for harvesting, the association was also provided by DA-13 (Caraga) with a digger, vacuum pack sealer, corn sheller and corn planter.
Calapre said their group last week delivered four tons of cassava granules to their buyer in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
“With the machineries provided by DA, we can now process our cassava products into dried granules,” he noted.
He added that their group will deliver more cassava granules to their partner-buyer in Agusan del Sur in the weeks to come.
Leonito C. Pasquito, the Municipal Agricultural Officer of Las Nieves, said the LGU and DA-13 previously linked the group of Calapre to a farmer’s association in Esperanza that has an existing contract to sell cassava granules to big companies.
“The market is not a problem for processed cassava. The group of Mr. Calapre has an assured market and they had already made their first delivery at PHP11 per kilo,” Pasquito said.
He added that their office will encourage more corn farmers in the town to venture into cassava farming and production because of its profitability.
“Mayor Rosales has assured our farmers of the government’s full support in their endeavors especially in agricultural production. Most of our farmers here are engaged in upland farming and corn production,” Pasquito said.
He added that Mayor Rosales targets around 200 hectares of land to be developed as cassava production sites under the Cassava Cluster Development Plan of the municipality. (PNA)
