Philippine Abaca and Fiber
By Danny O. Calleja
The Bicol region is fast regaining its top abaca producer title lost to typhoons and plant diseases several years ago with the recent introduction of disease-free plantlets and mechanized fiber stripping machines, the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) said here over the weekend.
In Catanduanes alone, which is considered the country’s top abaca producer among provinces, fiber production of 8,646 metric tons in January to May 2009 was up to an estimated 14,140 metric tons during the same period this year, the FIDA regional office said.
It was owing to these genetically engineered plantlets that are resistant to bunchy-top, mosaic and bract mosaic viruses and the stripping machine that maximized fiber recovery.
The propagation of disease-free plantlets is an ongoing project started last year and would be completed in 2011. It is spearheaded by the FIDA, Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) and the Biotechnology Program Implementation Unit (BPIU) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
At the start of the project in 2009, FIDA tapped the expertise of Dr. Vermando Aquino of the UP Diliman (UPD) National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) and Dr. Evalour Aspuria of the UP Los Banos (UPLB) Department of Horticulture.