P31.6M facility to boost rubber processing in
Agusan Sur
BUTUAN CITY, June 15 (PIA) - Rubber processing
will be given a big boost with the establishment of P31.6 million natural crumb
rubber processing in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.
The said facility, which will be turned over
this month, is a big-ticket project of the Mindanao Rural Development Program
(MRDP), a special project under the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Through MRDP's Community Fund for Agricultural
Development (CFAD), the Farmers Alternative for Self-Reliance Multi-Purpose
Cooperative (FASRMCO) was able to access the P31.6-million fund for the
establishment of processing facility which is equipped with creper and
macerator, shredder, trolley dryer, hydraulic baling press and weighing scale.
"The facility is expected to produce
high-quality semi-processed natural crumb rubber for tire and footwear manufacturers,"
said MRDP livelihood specialist Samson Mate.
He said the facility will also improve the
consistency and standard of the plasticity retention index of natural crumb
rubber products and to increase value of rubber cup lump, the coagulated rubber
latex.
"The province has no existing commercial
rubber processing plant, except the conventional processing type," Mate
said.
"With the facility rubber farmers can have
an annual incremental income of at least P3,600-P6,900 per hectare as savings
from freight and handling if delivered in processing centers in North
Cotabato," he added.
As of 2011, Agusan del Sur has 13,321 hectares
planted to rubber and 4,972 are already productive. The total volume of cuplump
production was 15,273 metric tons with an average production of 3.1 metric tons
per hectare.
"These are the sources of cuplump for
milling in the province's crumb rubber processing center which has the capacity
of at least 4,337 metric tons," Mate said.
MRDP program director Lealyn Ramos said the MRDP
through its program advisory board has approved the funding of big-ticket
livelihood projects to provide wider opportunities for famers to expand
production into enterprise.
"This crumb rubber facility will not only
reduced hauling cost but more importantly enabled our farmers to earn more
through value-adding activities," Ramos said. (DA-MRDP/PIA-Caraga)
