by DOLE-ZaNorte
DIPOLOG CITY, July 5 (PIA) - - The increasing
prices of rubber sap these days have caught the attention of public officials
and decision-makers to promote rubber planting to address poverty in the
countryside.
Despite this emerging opportunity, the small rubber
farmers of Tampilisan town, some 170 kilometers south of this city, are still
living in poverty.
In its field observation report, the Kasangyangan
Rural Development Foundation, Inc. (KRDFI) said majority of the small rubber
farmers, who have been into farming since the early 80’s, failed to improve
their production.
KRDFI disclosed that 95 percent of lands planted to
rubber belong to “smalltime rubber farmers with an average yield of 0.9 to 1.2
tons per hectare per year, which is relatively low.” These farmers are also
hampered by the lack of technology and skills in tending their rubber trees
which are now also unproductive and senile, said the report.
Noting this gap, the municipal government of
Tampilisan together with the Jose Rizal Memorial State University
(JRMSU)-Tampilisan Campus and KRDFI formed the Tampilisan Natural Rubber
Industry Board (TNRIB) with one common vision of attaining quality and
competitive rubber products by introducing to the farmers modern farming
technologies ranging from land preparation, planting, growing to tapping.
With the creation of TNRIB, DOLE saw a bright
prospect to channel its livelihood assistance to smalltime rubber farmers in
Tampilisan.
DOLE’s livelihood assistance would be implemented
through private-public partnership with TNRIB under this project proposal,
“Enhancement of Farm Asset and Productivity Improvement thru Rubber- based
Farming Systems Development for Smallholders.”
The project
focuses its interventions on small rubber-holder families who are among the
highest in terms of absolute poverty measures in 2009.
KRDFI survey
results reveal that Tampilisan small rubber-holders consisting of 4 to 5
individuals, earn about P2,000.00 to P5,000.00 per month which is far below the
Regional Per Capita Poverty Threshold of P6,600.00 as reported in 2009.
The project would also enable qualified
beneficiaries to develop an area of at least one hectare of rubber plantation
through the financial assistance from DOLE with KRDFI as accredited
fund-conduit involving fund-outlays for the initial procurement of 100 high
yielding rubber clones to replace senile trees or planting materials for their
vacant farm lots suitable for rubber cultivation.
Regular provisions of fertilizer and other farm
inputs for about a year are also assured provided the farmer-recipients have prepared
their respective farms (as their counterpart) and TNRIB’s social preparations
and technology trainings have been completed.
The second phase of planting commences only (or
other succeeding stages) after the recipients have paid the cost of seedlings
and inputs in the amount of P5 thousand or P50.00 per seedling directly to
their association. The amount shall form
part of the organizations’ capital build-up and savings-scheme to be utilized
in funding other livelihood projects such as planting corn or high-value crops
within their 2 to 3 year-old rubber plantation.
The first project engagement with TNRIB was
sometime on July, 2010 in the amount of P337,620.00 for the 52 small-rubber
holders of barangays Situbo and Tubod. Following its success, this project was
replicated in barangays of Camul, Sandayong and Tininggaan for 72 families in
the amount of P545,600.00.
Tampilisan is a 6th class municipality
of Zamboanga del Norte and one of the 300 poorest communities in the
Philippines based on the study of the National Anti-Poverty Commission
(NAPC). It has adopted rubber as its
enrolled product under the One Town One Product (OTOP) project of the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), targeting in consonance with its
Municipal Rubber Development Goals five thousand hectares planted with rubber by
2015. In the same year, it also aims to become a rubber industry center of
excellence in western Mindanao.(FPG/DOLE-ZaNorte/PIA-Zamboanga del Norte)