Caraga creates council to boost soybeans industry
By Nida Grace P. Barcena
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur – A Soybean
Council was created in Caraga region on November 7 to harness the full
potential of this lucrative industry and to support the feat of making the
region as top soybean producer in the country.
The Caraga Soybeans Council is headed by Joeirene Campomanes, chairperson of Magroyong Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (MAFAMUCO) in San Miguel town, Surigao del Sur.
Campomanes shared that as an initial step, the council wanted to ensure that the 2,000 hectares of land in the province should be planted with soybeans alone. Further, he urged the farmers to strengthen the farming of soybeans in Surigao del Sur, as the lead producer in the region, and to also revive its production with the rest of Caraga region, as part of the initial expansion measures of the council.
To kick-start, the council considered
the towns of San Miguel and Tago, all in Surigao del Sur to pilot the revival
of the soybeans production.
With the help of the North Eastern
Mindanao State University in San Miguel as the subject matter expert on soybean
farming, farmers will have a conducive knowledge and upscaling environment to
gain the latest technology and management of this commodity, with the support
of DA and its attached agencies.
As oversight, the Department of
Agriculture (DA) Caraga initially allocated the amount of P14 million for a
streamlined implementation of programs by the council to motivate and hype the
local farmers to embrace this priority commodity, such that the DA
wanted to enhance the four traditional soybean cultivars found in Caraga region
namely, Manchuria Bahug, Miracle, Paypay, and Lakwayan.
Further, as a profitable source of
income for the farmers, the DA, with collaboration of the council, will
implement the crop rotation method consisting of 2 cropping cycles of corn
and 1 cropping cycle of soybean.
With this endeavor and development, the Caraga Regional Development Council (RDC) saw the significant role of the soybean industry in the economic development of the region, as it issued Resolution No. 51-D, series of 2023 entitled, “Recognizing and Adopting the Soybeans as One of the Priority Industry Clusters of Caraga Region.” (NGPB, PIA-Surigao del Sur)
