Sericulture seen as answer to this poor town’s employment woes

CASIGURAN, Aurora — Sericulture production is taking this coastal town by storm, with local proponents hoping to cash in on the windfall to empower farmers from moving out of decades of grinding poverty.

In this town situated 200 kilometers from Manila, a three-hectare area in Barangay Dibacong has been turned into a mulberry plantation plus another three-hectare plantation in the adjoining town of Dilasag.

The moving spirit behind the sericulture boom in northern Aurora is the Industries Development Corporation (IDC), One of the most vertically integrated wood-based companies in the country, IDC is heavily involved in community development, jobs generation and livelihood.

Michael John G. Ong, IDC executive vice president, told The STAR that their firm has infused an initial P5 million for the Aurora Sericulture Development Project (ASDP). The five-year project, is eyeing P250-million to revolutionize the sericulture industry in northern Aurora where roughly 750 hectares will be turned into a center for mulberry plantations, involving 378 rearing houses. Of the P250 million, P170 million will be sourced from the Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF).

Ong and his father, Jojo pioneered the sericulture industry in a series of village-based initiatives to help local folks find jobs. So far, the father-and-son tandem has successfully piloted a number of projects in this town.

The ASDP particularly intends to generate 1,536 fulltime and 5,625 parttime jobs from the project where a net income of P10,000 can be generated per hectare, twice the income from palay production.

Michael Ong said that as the proponent of the project, the IDC would provide the technology transfer and marketing of sericulture products. The firm also plans to build a training and research center which will train farmers for mulberry plantation and silkworm rearing.

The younger Ong said the launching of the ASDP last February was spurred by the need for farmers in northern Aurora to diversify since agriculture production is concentrated mainly on rice, corn and coconut. But with limited flatlands and limited access to appropriate technologies and lack of irrigation facilities, production remains low. The lack of post harvest facilities (PHFs), the bad conditions of the farm-to-market roads and rampant kaingin (slash-and-burn) farming along the Sierra Madre mountains had also been cited for the high PHF losses of farmers.

The project is considered well-suited in the area where poverty is prevalent. An average of 82.5 percent of the total number of families in the so-called Dicadi area embracing Dilasag, Casiguran and Dinalungan fall below the poverty threshold.

Sericulture is an agro-based industry with high potentials for employment and income generation, providing additional income to farmer-households aside from the usual crops. Involved technologies are user-friendly and don’t need much inputs. Mulberry trees are pruned for easier harvesting such that it could withstand typhoon damage, thus, making monthly rearing possible and a steady income for farmers.

Silk, the main product derived from agriculture, is one of the high-value commercial crops being promoted by the fiber industry of the Department of Agriculture (DA) which is deemed suited in the area. In sericulture, several cropping seasons a year could be maintained which other crops could not.

Silk, which is produced by silkworms, known scientifically as Bombyx Mori, is valued for its exquisite luster and luxurious feel. In the country, silk is used mainly for Barong Tagalog, wedding gowns, evening dresses and other high fashion garments and accessories. For decades, Muslim women have been using silk scarves. Its other by-products are also used in the manufacture of home furnishings or apparels, industrial or pharmaceutical goods and manufactured silk products contribute significantly to the country’s export earnings.

Industry records showed that in the country, the silk market is still in the so-called infancy stage although some provinces already ventured into weaving silk fabric. Most silk used are imported and woven to different types of fabric and exported to various countries.

Recently, the industry received a boost with the signing into law of Republic Act 9242 which prescribes among others, the "Use of Philippine Tropical Fabrics for Uniforms of Public Officials and Employees," which ensured a demand of 75 tons of silk or other indigenous fibers to be used for the uniforms of government employees and officials.

The consumption of silk products in the world’s fashion capitals and in the more affluent countries follows an increasing trend notwithstanding the emergence of synthetic fibers. The development of silk fabric substitute miserably failed to meet the qualities of the natural silk fabric.

According to the International Sericulture Commission, China remains the highest producer of fresh cocoons and raw silk, churning out 454,600 tons and 60,000 tons, respectively in 2001 alone. On the same year, China posted an export in raw silk of 10,496 tons followed by India’s 499 tons. Italy imported the biggest volume of mulberry silk with 3,168 tons.

India, Vietnam, Brazil and Iran also produce large volumes of fresh cocoons.

The US averages $1.5 billion in yearly import for silk yarn while its import for textiles is roughly $6.6 billion per year.

Over a 10-year period from 1993 to 2002, the Philippines spends an average of $1.9 million yearly for the importation of various silk products while generating export earnings of 1.1 million per year over the same period from the shipment of cocoons, silk wastes, raw silk, yarn and fabrics.

The Ongs said raw silk is the next agricultural product in the province with its load ability. An ideal sericulture area in the province is one to two hectares per family.

IDC studies show that mulberry trees could help control soil erosion as well as provide food source to silkworms. Already, experimental silkworms have been reared in Barangay Esperanza, Dilasag which yielded high-class cocoons comparable to the Cordilleras which proved that sericulture in northern area is very much viable.

The IDC is planning to convert 50 hectares of its own land for the project and identify the people to manage each hectare plot and train, support and purchase all its produce.

Michael Ong said that their firm is tapping the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) for additional technical support while the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will introduce it to agrarian reform beneficiaries. The Philippine Textiles Research Institute (PTRI) provides the silkworm eggs and performs the researches on breeding and silkworm rearing technologies,

Ong said the Angaras — Sen. Edgardo Angara, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, House Deputy Minority Leader Juan Edgardo Angara and Baler Mayor Arthur Angara – are supporting the project. The provincial government, represented by the governor, has signified interest in making the sericulture industry fully develop in all the eight towns of the province.

Last year, the provincial government asked the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to help extend technical assistance for the development of sericulture in the province. KOICA sent Dr. Yung Kun Lee, a widely experienced Korean sericulture expert which worked in partnership with the IDC for technology transfer to the provincial government.