Rautini Ltd and Philippines based company Seedcore, have formed a joint venture Narra Oceania to manage farms in an Indigenous Peoples Area on the island of Mindanao. Key staff and resources from both entities are already delivering development programmes to the cacao sector in Eastern Samar.

This venture is rehabilitating several coconut and cacao farms on a commercial basis, including a demonstration farm to promote the good farming practices required to produce premium added value products. Professional supply chain management and attention to marketing will demonstrate to farmers and processors the increased commercial returns that can be achieved through pursuing premium outputs.

It is hoped to expand this model to other farms, building a substantial premium cacao supply base within the region.

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Pilot & Assessment

Location

The farm is a 60 hectare site located in Marayag, Davao Oriental region. It is currently planted with 40,000 4-5 year old cacao trees.

Grounds

This site is an ideal candidate to showcase organic and Climate Smart farming practices. The topography ranges from steep slopes to undulating flatter areas.

Farmers

Indigenous farmers with a 25 year land right currently farm using a mixed cropping model with cacao planted amongst coconut and fruit trees.

A Better Future

With the assistance of Narra Oceania, farmer income from cacao is expected to increase by 80% after 3 years. This comes from better farming practices, primary processing, certification and market access arrangements.

Growing

Prior to the establishment of the pilot programme, the cacao growing operation had been neglected and the crop left open to pests and diseases with no maintenance undertaken. To rehabilitate the farm, the following steps were required:

• Clearing the dense undergrowth
• Pruning of the cacao trees
• Applying organic pest management methods, including form pruning that increases air flow to reduce pod rots and sleeving pads to protect against pod borer
• Side-grafting to revigorated the cacao farm genetics
• Applying organic fertiliser
• Gaining environmental and organic certification

Processing

Part of the added-value approach is conducting primary processing on site which produces high quality, fermented dry beans

This has involved the renovation or building of:

• Fermentary
• Solar dryers
• Associated infrastructure including storage areas