The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking at a 10 percent expansion in the country’s natural rubber production to 450,000 tons this year as part of a 15-year plan to make the Philippines a major player in the global rubber industry and generate nearly a million jobs from this promising, dollar-generating sector.
The 10 percent growth target would help meet the growing demand of the domestic tire and footwear industry, which absorbs 70 percent of the country’s production, and raise rubber exports to $56 million this year, from $42 million in 2007.
The rubber industry forms a major component of the Arroyo administration’s bid to develop new opportunities for rural progress and agricultural growth.
The DA’s 15-year rubber development program (RDP), which was launched in 2006 to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Philippine rubber industry, is in partnership with the Philippine Rubber Industries Association (PRIA), the United Rubber Producers and Processors Association (URPPA), Filipino and foreign investors, LGUs, and farmers’ groups.
As part of the RDP, the DA is aiming to expand the current area planted to rubber to one million hectares and increase production and exports to $960 million by 2020, which, in turn, is projected to create at least one million jobs for plantation workers, tappers and processors.
The Philippines already has the three fundamentals for developing “a strong, competitive and sustainable” local rubber sector.
These are a favorable agro-climatic resources; availability of suitable areas for rubber farming even outside of Mindanao; and market and industry dynamics that allow growth for smallholder operations
Under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani-High Value Commercial Crops Program (GMA-HVCC), the DA aims to open 21,600 hectares of additional rubber areas this year, in addition to the 20,500 hectares developed last year.
The Philippines is hosting the 4th ASEAN Rubber Conference which is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas.
The conference is an opportunity for the Philippines to convince potential investors, Filipinos and foreigners, to seriously consider and put their stake in the Philippine rubber industry.