Sultan Kudarat reaps its harvest in CPAR project

08 April 2008
Marlowe U. Aquino, PhD

After successfully implementing the CPAR on Banana-based Farming System in the municipality of Isulan in Sultan Kudarat, the farmer association identified the performance indicators to intensify their CPAR project. This time, it is more on the processing of banana into chips which has a high demand both in the domestic and international markets.

According to Mr. George Mariscal, municipal agricultural officer, and Ms. Epifania dela Cruz, assigned agricultural technician of the Isulan CPAR project, their farmer group wanted to address the increasing production of fresh banana for chips. "Our production tremendously increased because of the strategies employed in our CPAR project. We wanted to increase the value of our produce and for our farmers to increase their share of the harvest," they said.

With the strong support provided by the DA-Central Mindanao Integrated Agricultural Research Center (CEMIARC) under the then leadership of Mr. Niceto Agduyeng, the project caught the attention of the municipal government and agreed to establish and build a banana processing center.

Today, the CPAR project is closely coordinated by Mr. Eduardo Solomon, the new DA-CEMIARC manager and his staff providing the necessary support to intensify the project. The project now expanded to three more areas forming a cluster of banana producers.

In a joint activity, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) of DA-Region 12 is now conducting capability building activities such as banana chip preparation and processing, and mushroom production. These activities were identified during the CPAR expansion consultation with the farmers for added livelihood projects.

Another product envisioned to be supported through CPAR is the "pinasugbo", a local sweet delicacy originally from Iloilo. It will be processed with the use of muscovado, which is locally produced by a local sugarcane milling plant in Isulan.

In addition, the Isulan CPAR site and other expanded areas will be undergoing enterprise development capability building under the orchestration of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) in the coming months for all CPAR projects ready for the next stage of production and management activities - commercialization of the agricultural product.

Based on initial marketing of the banana chips in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, the product is now available in major stores and supermarkets in the region and market expansion is likely to happen in other areas using the brand name "Crunchy Saba." The product is believed to support the pressing food production, sustainability and profitability concerns of local farmers and producers in the region.