Farm dep’t earmarks P50M to boost Basilan rubber output

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Department of Agriculture has allocated P50 million this year to boost the rubber industry in Basilan, a conflict-affected island that had pioneered rubber production and processing in the country, the province’s chief executive said.

Basilan Governor Jum J. Akbar, who met with Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala recently, said in a recent interview that P30 million of the amount will be used to acquire supplies and technologies to set up rubber tree nurseries.

The Agriculture department will shell out P10 million to build rubber processing plants, while the remaining P10 million will be used to rehabilitate roads in the town of Tipo-Tipo that lead to the rubber plantations.

Earlier, rubber cooperatives and processors in Basilan asked the government, particularly state financing institutions, to create a special credit window for the industry to acquire new technology to enable them to produce export-quality rubber.

Enos V. Bucoy, plant manager of the Latuan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association, Inc., said separately that his group has been lobbying for loans from state banks, but stringent requirements have prevented them from borrowing.

He said that, for the past years, rubber cooperatives here have relied on alternative private financing firms, which had less requirements but charged higher interest.

There is a dire need, he said, for the industry to upgrade its processing plants, which date back to the 1960s when American investors were still running the province’s rubber industry.

"Giving us fresh funds would rehabilitate [old equipment] and provide us with new technologies. That way, we can produce higher quality of rubber," he said.

Today, rubber cooperatives here sell their produce to middle men, who then sell to manufacturers of rubber-based products in Luzon.

Rubber is sold here as centrifuged latex, cup lumps, crepe sheets, and crumb form. Most of the rubber produced here ends up as tires, boots and slippers.

"But what we want is that, aside from the existing products, we hope we can produce rubber that can be made into medical paraphernalia, such as surgical gloves, which has higher market value," Mr. Bucoy said.

Mr. Bucoy said only four of the six cooperatives in this province have their own rubber processing plants.

Latest provincial government data show Basilan has at least 15 large rubber-based agrarian reform communities.

These communities account for 7,905 hectares planted with rubber trees.

Basilan’s rubber industry flourished until the start of the Moro revolt in the 1970s, which forced foreign investors to flee the island. It remained largely idle at the height of the Abu Sayyaf threat in the early 2000s.

Bureau of Agricultural Statistics 2008 production data showed Basilan with only 26,000 metric tons (MT) of rubber produced, trailing North Cotabato’s 156,000 MT, Zamboanga Sibugay’s 89,000 MT and Zamboanga del Sur’s 69,000 MT.

Basilan’s rubber hectarage that year totaled 21,000, compared with North Cotabato’s 30,000, and Zamboanga Sibugay’s 28,000.

Zamboanga del Sur, despite beating Basilan in rubber production, had only 6,000 hectares planted to rubber trees in 2008.

(Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?title=Farm%20dep%E2%80%99t%20earmarks%20P50M%20to%20boost%20Basilan%20rubber%20output&id=27189)