Success Story: From Batangas to Apayao with Cocoa
As a young man, when Mr. Irene Ortega moved from Batangas to his wife’s native Apayao, he brought with him the fruit and cocoa trees popular in his native region and intercropped them on his new farm. His farm was unusual in an area where these crops are not normally found. As do many Filipinos, Mr. Ortega grew a few cocoa trees for family use in a traditional drink called tsokolade.
Over time, he gradually increased cocoa production to about 150 trees as he began to realize the commercial potential for cocoa. He encouraged his neighbors to plant fruit and cocoa trees, introduced the concept of intercropping and tried to organize a farmer association. However, his neighbors were hesitant as the trees take several years to bear fruit.
When SUCCESS Alliance came to Apayao in 2004, Mr. Ortega’s farm stood out as a clear example that cocoa could be successfully grown in the area. As an experienced cocoa farmer, 68 year old Mr. Ortega was selected to become a training facilitator for the Apayao area and enrolled in training-of-trainers sessions. Mr. Ortega’s farm was identified as an ideal Farmer Field School site as his farm included trees of varying ages allowing farmers to practice techniques on both young and mature cocoa trees, as well as witness the benefits of intercropping. Mr. Ortega trained 115 farmers at his farm during the first phase of SUCCESS Alliance.
As part of his training, Mr. Ortega learned propagation techniques to increase his capacity to provide seedlings to farmers he trained. He modified instructions from the University of Mindinao to construct a propagation tunnel for his cocoa and fruit tree seedlings. Mr. Ortega found this aspect of his training to be very beneficial noting, “I should have known about these cacao propagation techniques when I was younger!”
This year, Mr. Ortega will focus on producing seedlings, approximately 20,000, for Farmer Field School participants. Although he will not be a facilitator this year, his farm will continue to serve as a Farmer Field School site and he will remain available to assist his neighbors.
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