LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial government will embark on the mass production of cacao in former marijuana plantation sites to as a replacement source of livelihood for drug surrenderees and former marijuana cultivators.
Gov. Crescencio C. Pacalso said the local government earmarked some P1 million in this year’s annual budget for the production of cacao seedlings to be distributed to interested former marijuana cultivators and drug surrenderees with a special focus on the former identified marijuana-producing areas in Kapangan, Kibungan and Bakun.
Initially, the provincial government will be distributing some 50 cacao seedlings to interested individuals who underwent the 3-day cacao production training to start their production subject to the monitoring of relevant offices of the municipal and provincial governments to guarantee the robust growth in the production of cacao in the different parts of the province considering that cacao thrives well with coffee.
“We have to continue providing the displaced marijuana cultivators with alternative sustainable sources of livelihood and cacao production was identified as one of these alternatives, especially when the cacao seedlings will be propagated and appropriately raised,” Pacalso stressed.
The governor added cacao has been proven to thrive in areas having an elevation of at least 900 meters above sea level that is why some parts of the province had been identified as possible cacao production areas for people to have additional sources of income in the future.
According to him, the local government will continue to provide adequate funds to help improve cacao production until farmers are able to produce quality cacao from at least 1 million seedlings to make sure that Benguet will be at par with the cacao production of other cacao-producing areas in the country.
By providing interested farmers with alternative sources of income aside from coffee and vegetable production, Pacalso expressed confidence that people in the countryside will increase their economic activities thereby contributing in efforts to lessen the temptation for people to be involved in the illegal cultivation of marijuana.
He pointed out the local government wants to sustain the eradication of identified marijuana cultivation areas in remote villages of the province pursuant to the government’s aggressive anti-drug campaign and one of the identified interventions is to provide former marijuana cultivators with sustainable sources of income to prevent them from going back to their previous activity of propagating the illegal hemp in far flung villages of the province.
He urged interested residents in the different parts of the province to try the production of cacao in their places, provided that, their areas are situated at least 900 meters above sea level so that they will have alternative sources of income aside from their existing livelihood activities to help improve the living condition of their families and for them to be self-reliant in raising their families.
By HENT