Agriculture.ph Blog

Banana is a sure money-earner. This could have been the belief of the residents of barangay Sonlon in Asuncion, Davao del Norte when the whole community decided to involve themselves in Cardaba banana production to earn money for their living.

Transforming a once rebel-infested area into a fruitful field, the people of Sonlon have managed their way to find a regular source of income with Cardaba.

The Cardaba story

Barangay Sonlon was once infested by the New People’s Army during the 1980’s and was the scene of numerous battles between the rebels and the military. This drove the residents away and vacated the village for several years.

On the onset of the new decade, the rebels abandoned the area and the villagers settled back and took over the place.

Corn was the main staple crop planted by the farmers in Sonlon. However, the rugged-rolling terrain of the place was not suitable for corn production. The nutrients present in the soil is either leached or washed away by rain water, making it unavailable for crop production. Losses were incurred by the farmers because of the very low yield of their crop.

In 2004, through the Southern Mindanao Intergated Agricultural Research Center and the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit XI, the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) was introduced in Sonlon. With the aim of establishing livelihood activities for the people in the said barangay, the “Cardaba Banana Production and Agribusiness Development Project” was launched.

The Cardaba is a cooking-type variety of banana, and is highly tolerant to diseases caused by fungi such as Fusarium. It is grown mainly for the banana chips industry.
Dr. Rolando Kinatana (2nd from right) of BAR with project coordinators from USM during the site visit of the CPAR team on Cardaba banana.

During the initial implementation stage of the project, there were only 31 cooperators who planted Cardaba in a 25-hectare land. With hard work and perseverance, the production of Cardaba eventually flourished and the returns from its sales gave the farmers a good income. This gave the other residents of Sonlon a go-signal to also venture into Cardaba farming. From 31, cooperators increased to 300.

Concurrent with implementation of the CPAR project on Cardaba was the establishment of the Sonlon Development Cooperative (SODECO). Through the cooperative, planting materials and other farm implements were made available to farmers, and then later paid from the proceeds of their banana sales. The SODECO also plans to venture into processing their produce into banana chips.

To be able to cater to other people interested in Cardaba farming, planting materials like suckers and tissue cultured seedlings can be obtained form the office of the Provincial Agriculture Office.

Reaping success from Cardaba

Mr. Antonio Corriba, a farmer-cooperator of the mentioned CPAR project, owns a half hectare land in Sonlon. He was among the residents of the area who first ventured into corn production, then later shifted to Cardaba production. Mr. Corriba noted that his shift from corn to banana was accompanied by an increase of income from his sales. He said that from his half-hectare land, the highest return that he could obtain from corn is only PhP 3,240.00, where as, he obtains a net income of PhP 8,000.00 from Cardaba. Now, Mr. Corriba happily notes that he has a regular monthly source of income.

The involvement of the community of Sonlon in Cardaba farming is not only limited to its farmers. Inspired by the CPAR project implemented in their place, the Sonlon National High School (SNHS) also maintains a one-hectare Cardaba farm in its vicinity, which they dubbed as their “CPAR income generating project”. According to Mrs. Raquel Tagulinao, head teacher of the SNHS, the banana area that they manage is an income generating activity to augment the meager maintenance and other operating expenses of the school.

The market for Cardaba

The Cardaba growers in Sonlon sell their harvested produce at the local market in Davao del Norte with price ranging from PhP 3.40 to PhP 4.00 per kilo. At present, there are around 26 processing plants of banana chips in Mindanao that can also be a possible market for the growers of Cardaba in Sonlon.

Dr. Rolando Kintana, assistant head of the Research Coordination Division of BAR, quoted that Cardaba growers can expect a net income of about PhP 56,000.00 to PhP 75,000.00 per hectare on a per kilo farm gate price of PhP 4.00. He added that the income of Cardaba growers can be further increased once that it penetrates the international market.

How to grow Bananas -> http://www.agripinoy.net/how-to-grow-bananas.html

Written by: by Ellaine Grace E. Nagpala

Source: www.bar.gov.ph