ICA through the Cocoa Excellence (CoEX) Program is a biennial global competition recognizing the value of work of cocoa (cacao) farmers by providing them global recognition and celebrating the diversity of flavors from different origins in the world.
For this year’s ICA Gold Award winner Arthur Lagoc from Talandang, Tugbok District here is a second generation cocoa farmer who inherited the family’s 35-year old cocoa farm from his father Juan Lagoc.
“For as long as you adopt good farming practices, you can produce high-quality cocoa beans,” he said, adding that biodiversity in cocoa farms must also be conserved.
“My cocoa trees are intercropped with fruit trees as they create a cooler environment for my cocoa trees to thrive well and survive the heat especially during the dry season,” he said.
One of Lagoc’s farming practices is the use of livestock manure as organic fertilizer and we don’t practice burning of crop residues under the trees.
Meanwhile, silver winner Carlos Barsicula from Sawata, San Isidro in Davao del Norte said discipline, hard work and adherence to quality standards are the secret to his success in the international tilt.
Barsicula, a retired Philippine Army said that before entering the cacao farming, he had observed that many cacao farmers did not adhere to the Good Agricultural Practices and even dried their beans along the side of the road.
About 235 cacao bean samples originating from 53 countries competed in the 2021 competition.
San Isidro town is considered as one of the major cocoa-producing areas in the Davao Region and best known for their annual Sikwate Festival, Barsicula has seen it as an opportunity to level-up and put a premium on their produce to command better prices.
“I attended a lot of training to know the best practices and technologies in cocoa production to make sure that every step of the way is based on informed-decision. And through the Chokolate de San Isidro, Inc., I also shared what I have learned to my fellow cocoa farmers,” he said.
Both winners are farmer-beneficiaries of the Cacao Rehabilitation Program of the Department of Agriculture-11 (DA) through the High Value Crops Development Program where they received production inputs and tools such as cacao seedlings, fertilizers, pruning shears and saws to revive old cacao trees and return to its former glory.
DA 11 Regional Executive Director Abel James I. Monteagudo said that Lagoc and Barsicula’s feat manifests the Agency’s vision to make smallholder farmers competitive both in the local and international market.
Monteagudo congratulated Lagoc and Barsicula for joining the roster of the Best Cacao Farmers in the world, saying their recognition is a big boost to the Philippine cacao industry at the same time stands as the face of its inclusivity where even smallholder farmers have a fair share and can even make it big in the International Cocoa Awards.
The two farmers and other backyard farmers have been urged to collectively group themselves to leverage their international recognition with big industry players.
Photo: DA 11
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