SAN JOSE De BUENAVISTA, Antique — More farmers in Antique province are being encouraged to produce cacao because of the huge demand in the market.
Ramon Iwag, president of the Antique Cacao Association, said there was not enough cacao being produced in the province, that they still had to source out from other places for their raw materials.
Iwag, who owns a factory for the much sought-after tablea and native chocolates in the province carrying the brand name “Enriquita’s”, said that every month, he needed 1.5 tons of cacao for his business. That is why he has to order raw materials from other places like Davao.
“This is not only true with me but also with our other members who use cacao,” Iwag said.
He added that he is encouraging farmers and land owners in the province to go into cacao production so that there would be enough supply which they could buy.
Iwag said during their group’s meeting with the Provincial Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Antique provincial office Wednesday, Feb. 28, they also sponsored a resolution that would be sent to the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the local government units in Antique, urging them to provide capacity building trainings among farmers going into cacao production.
The resolution, which was approved by the council headed by DTI provincial director Mercedes Young, also required farmers to ensure that they were oriented before they could avail of the planting materials being distributed by these agencies so there would be high survival rate of the cacao seeds and wastage of funds could be avoided. (PNA)
