Rubber farmers in Basilan will soon be provided the best and tested high-yielding rubber clones through the support of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD). DOST-PCAARRD funded the first R&D project of Basilan State College (BasSC), S&T Community-Based Farms (STCBF) on Promoting Rubber Plantations in the Province of Basilan, ARMM, which will be led by Prof. Jaime C. Sojor of BasSC, Lamitan City campus.
The project aims to increase farmers’ rubber latex yield by 1.92 metric tons dry rubber (DR)/hectare per year from the current yield of 1.28 metric tons DR/hectare per year. This can translate to a 50% increase in the farmers’ income per hectare per year.
Aside from providing farmers with rubber clones, the project will focus on the establishment of 0.5 hectare of nursery and 0.5 hectare of budwood and multiplication garden to propagate the seven NSIC recommended clones, namely, PB217, PB235, PB260, PB311, PB330, RRIM600, and USM1. The nursery and garden will be under the care of BasSC–Lamitan City Campus. Moreover, model rubber farms will be established by farmer cooperators to showcase the best management practices that will be introduced by the project.
BasSC president Dr. Nasser A. Salain, Al-Haj committed to deliver what the project aims so that the province can realize its objective of providing farmers with high-yielding clones from the budwood garden and nursery.
Basilan ranks as the third major producer of rubber in the country, with total production area of 45,308 hectares, according to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DAF-ARMM). However, despite the large area for production, the average latex production is still below the national average of 1.28 metric tons per hectare per year.
The project was approved through the request of the DOST-ARMM Regional Secretary Myra Mangkabung Alih, who is also a rubber farmer.