2 Davao farmers bag gold, silver in International Cocoa Awards
OUT of 235 samples from 53 cocoa-producing countries, two Davao farmers made it to the prestigious International Cocoa Awards (ICA) and joined the roster of best cocoa producers in the world.
ICA, through the Cocoa Excellence (CoEX) Program, is a biennial global competition recognizing the value of the work of cocoa (cacao) farmers by providing them global recognition and celebrating the diversity of flavors from different origins in the world.
For the 2021 edition, the ICA received 235 samples from 53 cocoa-producing countries, four of which were from the Philippines. The cocoa samples were transformed into liquor and evaluated blindly (physical and sensory evaluation through blind codes) by the CoEX Technical Committee.
Recently, CoEX conferred the 50 best samples during the recent virtual ICA which was celebrated at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, France in which two of the top producers are Davao farmers.
For ICA Gold Award winner Arthur Lagoc from Talandang, Tugbok District, Davao City, the recognition validates not just his own work but the work of the generations who came before him. He 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. One of our farming practices is the use of livestock manure as organic fertilizer and we don’t practice burning of crop residues under the trees,” he added.
The ICA Silver Award winner Carlos Barsicula from Sawata, San Isidro in Davao del Norte is a testament that even smallholder cocoa farmers from a remote area can be at par with the world’s best.
As retired army personnel, he said discipline, hard work, and adherence to quality standards are the secret to his success in the international tilt.
“Before I entered the cacao farming, I have seen many cacao farmers who didn’t adhere to the Good Agricultural Practices and even drying their beans along the side of the road,” he said.
With the Municipality of San Isidro 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 a better price.
“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 an 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-Davao (DA-Davao) 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-Davao Regional Executive Director Abel James I. Monteagudo said that Lagoc and Barsicula’s feat manifests the DA’s vision to make smallholder farmers competitive both in the local and international market.
“I would like to congratulate Mr. Lagoc and Mr. Barsicula for joining the roster of the Best Cacao Farmers in the world. Your recognition is a big boost to the Philippine cocoa 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,” said Monteagudo.
He also urged the winning cocoa farmers and other backyard farmers to collectively group themselves to leverage their international recognition with big industry players. (Celso C. Vergara/DA-Davao)
