CARMEN, Surigao del Sur – After completing the 16-weeks session of the Farmers Field School (FFS) on Cacao Production, the farmer-graduates from Carmen, Surigao del Sur realize the vast market opportunity for cacao.

Guided by the “learning by doing” principle of the FFS, the 21 farmers from barangays Puyat and San Vicente studied and observed the cultural management practices for cacao from its seed-to-seed cycle. Since there was already minimal production area for cacao in Carmen, the FFS gave much emphasis on the proper pruning procedure to allow the trees to produce more fruits.

During the graduation ceremony on October 29, 2021 at the Carmen Farmers Training Center, Surigao del Sur Provincial Agriculturist Marcos M. Quico challenged at least 5% of the graduates to go into production and eventually into value-adding. He also shared the economic potentials of the industry and committed to providing access to affordable planting materials to the farmers from the Provincial Nursery.

Also present during the event was SB Member Hon. Rencio Valeroso. In his message, Hon. Valeroso encouraged the farmers to maximize all the knowledge and skills that they gained from the participatory learning to go into cacao processing as a viable venture. Meanwhile, HVCDP Point Person Mary Jane A. Gonzaga thanked the Local Government of Carmen through the Municipal Agriculture Office for the effective implementation of the FFS.

The OIC-Municipal Agriculturist Laury P. Lauron expressed his gratitude to various government instrumentalities such as the Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Training Institute for their continued support to agricultural development in Carmen.

The FFS runs from July 29 to October 29, 2021.