24 Oct Chinese Investors Eyes Mindanao for 10,000-Hectare Cacao Plantation
Local businessmen said on October 21, Friday that as the global market demand on cacao continues to increase, Mindanao farmers expect to produce 100,000 metric tons of cacao by 2022.
During President Rodrigo Duterte visit to China, a group of Chinese investors has called on the Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao (CIDAM) to support and help acquire a 10,000-hectare area for cacao plantation.
The 2016-2022 Philippine Cacao Industry Roadmap is in progress for the implementation to satisfy the ambitious production, Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (Oro chamber) said.
The Northern Mindanao Cacao Techno Forum was held in the city last Thursday. Several stakeholders, one of which is the Oro Chamber, local partners in the agriculture and government sectors participated in the said event.
The six-year Philippine Cacao Industry Roadmap has defined the “Cacao Double-up Program” for Mindanao, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said during the forum.
MinDA added that by planting and developing a total of 500,000 hectares of a cacao plantation would help boost and expand the cacao industry in Mindanao, with 28,000 hectares at the present.
90 percent of the country’s cacao production is from Mindanao, which if given sufficient support from the government could become one of the major suppliers of cacao in Asia.
Cacao is the main ingredient in making chocolates, it usually grows in hot, sunny and tropical regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
News Source: Manila Bulletin
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