Cebu pushes for agri-based manufacturing

CEBU, Philippines - Maximizing Cebu's potential to become the center of manufacturing with its good logistics, technology and manpower, the province is trying to attract more investments of agri-based manufacturing plants.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) assistant regional director Efren Carreon said that processed agricultural products manufacturing is pushed.

Already, Cebu is hosting good processed fruit manufacturing plants, such as the dried mangoes, among others. However, he said with the growing technology, more and more fruits that abundantly grow in the Visayas will now be processed as juice or pressurized packages that are deemed profitable for both local and international markets.

Pushing the agri-based manufacturing will not only help improve the employment rate in Cebu, but also aid farmers in other neighboring provinces, like Negros, Bohol and even Leyte to increase their selling prices of agricultural products like coconut, guyabano, buko, jackfruit, moringa (malunggay), among others.

In fact, Carreon said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is now implementing a program that will also push the development of coffee and cacao farming in Cebu.

Aside from attracting huge semi-conductor and other type of manufacturing companies, local investors are also encouraged to invest in the agri-based manufacturing businesses, as this is also becoming an in-demand commodity in the world.

Cebu's position as the center of trade, with good logistical infrastructure, is a strategic location for this type of investment, Carreon said.

Consequently, farmers will be encouraged to grow fruits, and other agricultural products that have good demand volume, he added.

Earlier, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced that it has successfully yielded a jackfruit plantation in a Leyte town by 82 percent to 15.39 metric tons (MT) per hectare, enhancing profitability for a fruit that has abundant value-adding prospects when processed.

DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research's (BAR) project in Mahaplag, Leyte has tapped a superior variety called "EVIARC Sweet, the sweetest known jackfruit variety that also has good crispiness."

It was developed by the Eastern Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center or EVIARC and is now registered with National Seed Industry Council.

Using EVIARC Sweet, an additional 11.97 hectares of jackfruit land have been put up in Mahaplag, a fifth class municipality in Leyte.

This is an 80 percent increase in area in the rural town and exceeded original project target of 30 percent increase.

"Jackfruit is a flagship project in Leyte.  We want to help the province focus on crops that can make a dent in the lives of farmers and farming entrepreneurs in poor communities," said BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar.

Jackfruit, "langka" in Filipino, has significant market potential for processing similar to the country's national fruit mango. It is processed into dried jackfruit, jackfruit pastillas, tart and jelly.

According to Carreon, there are a lot of fruits and vegetables that have good medicinal or nutritional value, which can be processed and marketed globally. /JMD (FREEMAN)