TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur – A Soybean Council was created in Caraga region on November 7, to harness the full potential of this lucrative industry and to support the feat of making the region as top soybean producer in the country.
The Caraga Soybeans Council is headed by Joeirene Campomanes, chairperson of Magroyong Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (MAFAMUCO) in San Miguel town, Surigao del Sur.
Campomanes shared that they will focus on the existing producersin the region, targeting a production area of 4,000 hectares that will be planted with soybeans alone. Further, he urged the farmers to strengthen the farming of soybeans as the lead producer in the region, and to also revive its production with the rest of Caraga region, as part of the initial expansion measures of the council.
To kick-start, the council considered the towns of San Miguel and Tago, all in Surigao del Sur, and Trento in Agusan del Sur to pilot the revival of the soybeans production.
With the help of the North Eastern Mindanao State University in San Miguel as the subject matter expert on soybean farming, farmers will have a conducive knowledge and upscaling environment to gain the latest technology and management of this commodity, with the support of DA and its attached agencies.
With proper training and production process, the soybeans will then be classified accordingly as class A – for food consumption, class B – for feed ingredients, and class C – for fertilizer, and no product will be rejected or put to waste which is a big factor that will motivate the farmers to plant more.
As oversight, the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga initially allocated the amount of P14 million for a streamlined implementation of programs by the council to motivate and hype the local farmers to embrace this priority commodity, such that the DA wanted to enhance the four traditional soybean cultivars found in Caraga region namely, Manchuria Bahug, Miracle, Paypay, and Lakwayan
With this endeavor and development, the Caraga Regional Development Council (RDC) saw the significant role of the soybean industry in the economic development of the region, as it issued Resolution No. 51-D, series of 2023 entitled, “Recognizing and Adopting the Soybeans as One of the Priority Industry Clusters of Caraga Region.” (NGPB, PIA-Surigao del Sur)
