Cassava, Manioc, Yuca – Now, The Philippines Has An Export Winner!

Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie says, "The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP) Is In High Gear" (31 October 2019, "The 'New Thinking' To Expand Agri Exports" 2nd Of 2 Parts, manilatimes.net); he then asks, "What type of future rice farmers could expect now?" meaning with the new Department of Agriculture, DA, under his headship. He answers his own question (my enumeration):

(1)   Planting Rice – one crop, one promise. For those farmers insisting on growing rice and rice alone, the current production cost of palay (unmilled rice) pegged at P12.72/kg, could be reduced to as much as P6/kg. PH rice will then be competitive with Thailand's P8/kg and Vietnam's P6/kg.

(2)   Planting Crops Other Than Rice – many crops, much promise. For farmers who are after Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita (heaps of harvests and heaps of income, my translation), they are "better off planting other crops." That is why, Manong Willie says, "I even made a declaration in my first day as Agriculture Secretary that a program to diversify crop production would be one of the DA's priorities." (above image is from "Preserving Diversity In My Food Garden," eatresponsibly.eu)

In the DA under Manong Willie, he says, "Crop diversification… forms part of the 'New Thinking for Agriculture,'" which I know is composed of 8 paradigms or templates: (1) Modernization of agriculture, (2) Industrialization of agriculture, (3) Promotion of exports, (4) Farm consolidation, (5) Roadmap development, (6) Infrastructure development, (7) Higher budget and investments for agriculture, and (8) Legislative support.

"Simply put it, it would be impossible to increase Philippine agricultural exports without modernizing and industrializing the agriculture sector," Manong Willie says. Unfortunately, he says, about 80% of our farmlands is devoted to only 3 crops: rice, corn and coconut. "There are other crops that are more profitable to cultivate, and have more export potential in raw or processed form."

PH Agriculture has to think of crop diversification, plural; it has to think of exports, plural!

We need to grow more vegetables, he says, more cacao, cashew, cassava, coffee, rubber, tropical fruits, among others. And export them!

He takes special note of cassava:

One particular crop that should interest more farmers is cassava, which currently has wide food processing applications in the form of starch. And with the rise in urban populations worldwide, the production of processed foods is expected to increase, with cassava starch being one of the main inputs.

Cassava is kamoteng kahoy, PH's sweet potato tree. I, writer and agriculturist, take particular interest in this crop because I know that it is one of the easiest to grow. Before and after high school, for years I helped my father in cultivating his bangkag (upland, dry farm) in the village of Sanchez in Asingan, Pangasinan – so I know that if you simply cut the cassava stalk to pieces, and then itugkelmo laeng maysa ken maysa – stick into the dry soil piece by piece like that – you have an excellent crop.

Cassava is a lazy man's crop that can make him rich, just wait and see!@517