Kalinga Representative Manuel Agyao is pushing for the propagation of high value commercial crops (HVCC) like rubber tree in North Luzon as it is feasible and viable industry that provides income and help balance the ecosystem. To lead this campaign, Agyao planted a one hectare land at Mapaoay this province with rubber trees and is now producing raw products of rubber. His plantation is now six years old and already producing rubber plates ready for sale.
Last week, investors and officials of state colleges from Cagayan and Isabela doing research on HVCC came to visit his farm with demonstration on seed germination and budding conducted by government researchers and private rubber tree growers. Representatives from the Bureau of Agricultural Research and Rubber Research and Development Program of the Department of Agriculture were also here to share their expertise on the industry.
Ernie Camacho, regional rubber industry coordinator of Region 9 in Zamboanga, discussed the potential and economic promises of rubber tree. Zamboanga he said is the only province in the country producing rubber. Camacho said there are various uses of rubber foremost is for the production of tyres. You can produce two tons of dried rubber in a one hectare plantation or an earning of P150,000,” he said adding that production could triple if the plantation is managed well.
Meanwhile, Agyao informed that the Rubber Institute created by law is soon to open. The new office will establish research on the industry and its mass propagation nationwide.