Eastern Visayas is on the way to a full recovery of its abaca sector, which was decimated by abaca disease in the 2000's, according to local officials.
In its report Friday, the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) reported that the region recorded 2,938 metric tons (MT) of abaca fiber production in 2024, up by 24 percent from the actual yield a year earlier.
Wilardo Sinahon, PhilFIDA Eastern Visayas regional director, said last year’s output was a remarkable growth from the 2,450.49 metric tons of abaca fiber produced in 2023.
“This significant improvement highlights the region's growing capacity to meet the rising demand for abaca fiber, driven by effective disease management, enhanced production support services, and the active involvement of local government units and farmer cooperatives,” Sinahon told local media.
Southern Leyte was the top producer last year with 1,457 MT, followed by Northern Samar (656.14 MT), Leyte (606.16 MT), Biliran ( the MT), Samar (57.07 MT), and Eastern Samar (2.78 MT).
Despite the increase in yield in the past two years, Sinahon said the figures are still lower compared to the 3,835 MT production in 2023 and 4,768 MT harvest in 2021.
The PhilFIDA official acknowledged that the prevalence of bunchy-top disease, still poses a significant challenge in their efforts to revive the abaca sector in the region.
Citing estimates, Sinahon said the disease has been plaguing about 60 percent of the existing 27,000 hectares of abaca plantations in the region’s six provinces. The productive area also dropped from the estimated 46,000 hectares to only 27,000 hectares.
From about 10,000 MT output in 2009 to 2010, the production has decreased to only 3,000 to 4,000 annually in recent years, he said, citing as a factor the minimal funds that affected PhilFIDA’s disease management activities.
The region only gets about P8 million to fight the disease every year.
Other factors that pulled down the yield were the impact of Typhoon Odette (international name Typhoon Rai) that devastated Southern Leyte farms in late 2021, the slow expansion of newly planted areas due to limited planting materials production, and the decrease in the price of low-grade abaca fibers.
(With report from PNA)
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