A private investor and advocate of rubber tree farming in region 2 envisioned to have more latex production to be able to establish a processing plant in the region.
Frederick Yang, proprietor of the Mabuhay Integrated Farm and owner of the only accredited rubber nursery in Nueva Vizcaya, encourages farmers to venture on rubber tree plantation seeing its promising potentials in livelihood, jobs generation and economic development.
He said there are already some investors in the region but he needs 100 hectares of plantation areas to produce more latex for him to install one processing plant which will be stationed in Nueva Vizcaya, considering that here are already some planters in the said province.
“If we can establish one processing plant in the region than this would be a great contributor to our regional economic growth and a competitive industry for national exports,” Yang said.
He further mentioned that there are lots of barren lands in the different provinces that might be viable for rubber tree as needs dry area and suits to the climate of the region.
He also cleared doubts of some officials that rubber tree farming might lessen productivity of the region on rice, corn and high value commercial crops as he explained that rubber tree could survive in plane and wet lands.
DENR regional technical director for research and development Lilia dL Abel, on her part, explained that rubber tree farming could not a substitute of the major agricultural production of region 2 as it will only augment the farmer’s income.
She explained that the rubber seedling could not also survive in wetland which is for rice plants and they only advocate intercropping with other plants such as cassava, banana, fruits bearing trees, cacao, coffee and the like.
Abel also mentioned that they are ready to transfer the technology to interested farmers who want to venture on the said program.
She further mentioned that rubber tree could one of the best tree species that are best planted in the National Greening Project sites regionwide.