Kalinga farmer turns cassava into thriving business

TABUK CITY, Kalinga (PIA) -Cassava, a resilient root crop that thrives in almost any soil condition, is often overlooked as a viable commodity in the province due to its limited marketability.

But  a farmer in Tabuk City made some innovative ways to make it a profitable business.

For a year now, Wilma Alvester from Barangay New Tanglag has been processing cassava into various food products, such as crunchies and “miki” noodles, creating a new source of livelihood for her and other women in her community.

Frustration

Alvester’s journey into cassava production began in 2009 when she attended a seminar that encouraged farmers to plant cassava. It was also when a politician promised to buy their harvest should they plant.

She said they planted as they were told, but when the time to harvest their cassava came, the politician was nowhere to be found. Rather than let it go to waste, Alvester  started cooking pastries, but the product were not particularly marketable.

“Haan mi kayat nga ma-waste dagiti cassava nga mula mi, sunga in-padas mi nga inaramid iti pastries ngem awan unay ti gumatang,” she said.

In 2017, Alvester discovered that cassava could be powdered and processed into “miki” noodles. Inspired, she opened a small “panciteria,” manually producing cassava-based noodles. However, the labor-intensive process proved costly, making it impractical compared to commercially available noodles.

“Adda diyay maysa nga helper iti ripper nga ammuna agaramid iti miki. So kunak mabalin gayam agaramid tayo ti miki out of cassava flour. Intry ko ket idiyay kami nag-start ket mayat. Kaya lang, very laborious isuna, manual process, isu nga insardeng mi ta adu ti magastos kaysa diyay gumatang kami ti commercial nga miki,” Alvester said.

Opportunity

An opportunity came in 2020 when she qualified for the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) under its Women-Helping-Women: Innovating Social Enterprises (WHWise) Program. She submitted her project proposal dedicated to cassava processing.

Alvester  also sought additional support from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for cassava farmers, requesting for fertilizers and cassava cuttings. As the president of the Manggawa Farmers Environmental Development Association (MFEDA), she encouraged members to plant cassava on their farms.

“Under the corn and cassava program ti DA, ti kayat ti DA gamin ket pati kuma daytoy nga cassava ket agbalin nga main commodity isunga ag-encourage da iti farmer nga ag-mula, ket co-incident met nga adda daytoy nga project isunga ingrab ko,” Alvester said.

After her proposal with DOST-PCIEERD was granted in 2023, Alvester launched the BAbae Livelihood AcceleratiNG Kasaba OpportunitY (Balangkoy) project, an initiative designed to empower women through sustainable livelihood. DOST-PCIEERD provided P3.4 million in grant to support the project, enabling the acquisition of cassava processing machines.

3.4 million ti inted ti DOST. Ingatang mi kadagiti machines nga kaya ti babai nga i-operate ta daytoy nga project ket masapul nga mabalin ma-operate ti babbai. Kase ti purpose na daytoy ket to empower dagidyay women. Tapnu haan laeng nga agbusiness nak, tapnu matulungak ti community particularly ti kababaihan,” Alvester said.

To implement the Balangkoy project, DOST-PCIEERD partnered with FLQ Food and Panciteria, Alvester’s business venture, with the goal of producing cassava powder.

After a series of testing, research works, and experiments, Balangkoy began its actual production in 2024.

“Diyay study ket the whole year ti 2023. Actual production kami lang idi 2024, idiyay nga nirumuar en iti market,” Alvester explained, adding that it is also when she began developing cassava crunchies as part of her product expansion. The crunchies are being supplied to different “pasalubong” centers in Tabuk City and outside the province.

Encouraging cassava farming

Alvester said Balangkoy Processing Center sustains its production from buying cassava from MFEDA farmers and other growers.

“Adda bagi mi nga farm ngem gatgatangen mi dagiti cassava nga iproproduce ti farmer ta syempre i-encourage mi isuda nga agmula,” she said.

She noted that there are still not many farmers who plant cassava as they are unaware of its potential profitability.

Nagbassit ti farm inputs nga gastusem ngem nagdakkel ti income na. Ngem haan laeng nga maala ti dadduma nga farmer kase na-use da gamin iti after 4 months ket ag-apit da. Ngem haan da mapanunut nga within diyay 8 months ket maminsan da lang nga aggastos,” Alvester said.

She explained that farmers could integrate cassava in their corn or rice farm as it would not affect their growth.

Having undergone many government-sponsored trainings on food production, Alvester also offers trainings to other organizations and to those who want to venture into food production.

“Mabalinnak mangted ti trainings kadagiti kinkayat. Haan tayo naimut nga tulungan dagidyay karu iti food production ti local product tayo,” she said.

Plans

Alvester said they currently have a limited cassava supply for the Cassava Processing Center, and so they have yet to fully market cassava powder, which is their primary product.

“Bassit pay lang ti nagmula sunga i-stock mi pay lang ti cassava powder, nga isu kuma ti main product mi,” Alvester said. “Ngem siguro nu umado ti production, umado ti agmula, idyay siguro nga aglako kami ti cassava powder.”

Looking ahead, she plans to expand beyond cassava and explore processing taro and other local crops. “Kayat ko idevelop ti taro, diyay ti kayat ko nga ipulverize tapnu ag-process met lang nga kastoy. Kayat ko nga i-develop diyay nga agbalin nga soft,” she said.

Outstanding rural woman

Because of this initiative, Alvester received recognition in August last year as an outstanding rural woman in Cordillera. She is this year’s Cordillera region’s nominee in the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) National Search for Outstanding Rural Women (SORW).

SORW is an annual recognition for outstanding rural women for their significant contributions to agriculture, fisheries, sustainable development, and the promotion of women-friendly technologies.

“Naragsakak ta pirmi haan ko nga inarapaap nga maging kasdiyay. Basta kenyak ket diyay nagdevelop. Ngem diyay a pagyamyamanak ta dagidyay gayam effort nga naibingay ko iti community or iti programa ti gobyerno ket marecognize. Agyamyamanak ah ta maysa nak gayam nga naka-contribute iti programa ti gobyerno,” Alvester said. (JDP/RGA-PIA CAR-Kalinga)

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