DOLE bats for inter-agency partnership to help poor rubber farmers in Tampilisan

Thursday 5th of July 2012

DIPOLOG CITY, July 5 (PIA) -- Public officials want to promote rubber planting to reduce poverty in the countryside as prices of rubber sap continue to rise.

Small rubber farmers of Tampilisan town, some 170 kilometers south of this city, who have been into farming since the early 80’s still living in poverty, according to a report of the Kasangyangan Rural Development Foundation, Inc. (KRDFI).

KRDFI said 95 percent of lands planted to rubber belong to small rubber farmers. These lands have a relatively low average yield of 0.9 to 1.2 tons per hectare per year, according to the report.

These farmers are also hampered by the lack of technology and skills in tending their rubber trees which are now also unproductive and senile, said the report.

Noting this gap, the municipal government of Tampilisan together with the Jose Rizal Memorial State University (JRMSU)-Tampilisan Campus and KRDFI, formed the Tampilisan Natural Rubber Industry Board (TNRIB) with one common vision of attaining quality and competitive rubber products by introducing modern farming technologies ranging from land preparation, planting, growing to tapping.

With the creation of TNRIB, DOLE saw a bright prospect to channel its livelihood assistance to smalltime rubber farmers in Tampilisan.

DOLE’s livelihood assistance would be implemented through private-public partnership with TNRIB under this project proposal, “Enhancement of Farm Asset and Productivity Improvement thru Rubber- based Farming Systems Development for Smallholders.”

The project focuses its interventions on small rubber-holder families who are among the highest in terms of absolute poverty measures in 2009.
KRDFI survey results reveal that Tampilisan small rubber-holders consisting of 4 to 5 individuals, earn about P2,000.00 to P5,000.00 per month which is far below the Regional Per Capita Poverty Threshold of P6,600.00 as reported in 2009.
The project would also enable qualified beneficiaries to develop an area of at least one hectare of rubber plantation through financial assistance from DOLE with KRDFI as accredited fund-conduit, involving fund-outlays for the initial procurement of 100 high yielding rubber clones to replace senile trees or planting materials for their vacant farm lots suitable for rubber cultivation.

Regular provisions of fertilizer and other farm inputs for about a year are also assured, provided that farmer-recipients have prepared their respective farms (as their counterpart) and TNRIB’s social preparations and technology trainings have been completed.

The second phase of planting commences only (or other succeeding stages) after the recipients have paid the cost of seedlings and inputs in the amount of P5,000 or P50.00 per seedling directly to their association. The amount shall form part of the organizations’ capital build-up and savings-scheme to be utilized in funding other livelihood projects such as planting corn or high-value crops within their two to three year-old rubber plantation.

The first project engagement with TNRIB was sometime on July, 2010 in the amount of P337,620.00 for the 52 small-rubber holders of barangays Situbo and Tubod.

Following its success, this project was replicated in barangays of Camul, Sandayong and Tininggaan for 72 families in the amount of P545,600.

Tampilisan is a 6th class municipality of Zamboanga del Norte and one of the 300 poorest communities in the Philippines based on the study of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC).

It has adopted rubber as its enrolled product under the One Town One Product (OTOP) project of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), targeting in consonance with its Municipal Rubber Development Goals five thousand hectares planted with rubber by 2015. In the same year, it also aims to become a rubber industry center of excellence in western Mindanao.(FPG/DOLE-ZaNorte/PIA-Zamboanga del Norte)