Basis of this optimistic view is the headway achieved by research and development (R&D) activities being undertaken by the government.
For one, cashew is grown in most regions of the country, with Palawan as the leading producer.
In the past, the local cashew industry had not developed its potential owing to low level of technology input by farmers, occurrence of pests and diseases, and poor soil management.
Now, a crop-livestock farming system is in place after the DAR-Research Outreach Station (ROS) for hillyland development zone conducted R&D along this line.
The project "Hillyland farming with cashew (plus green corn-mungbean) and cattle in Luzviminda, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan" was started in 1994 by the Southern Tagalog Integrated Agricultural Research Center (STIARC), Palawan Agricultural Station-DA Field Unit 4 to increase farm productivity and profitability of hillyland farmers through crop-livestock integration.
The cashew cultivar Mitra, a recommended variety, was used as base crop. Green corn and mungbean were planted as alley crops.
Cattle, which was integrated into the system, fed on the napier grass planted along the contour. The project motivated farmers to adopt soil conservation farming through the cattle re-dispersal scheme.
The project’s researcher, L.L. Fuertes, reported that cashew planting increased from 176 to 1,870 plants. The project also contributed to the DA program of increasing the source of good cashew varieties. – Rudy A. Fernandez