Australian investors eye Glan for cocoa farms

By BEVERLY C. PAOYON

GLAN, Sarangani (August 14, 2013) – A group of Australian and local investors are bullish on a potential coconut-cocoa intercropping investment in this town.

PlantAsian Agro-Forestry Systems Inc. (PlantAsian) and the local group proposed to Mayor Victor James Yap Sr. that the bulk of cocoa that Glan would be producing probably in a few years would have a ready global market.

During the exploratory meeting held Monday (August 12), PlantAsian chairman Tim Collver said a technical working group has to be formed to look at the immediate concerns “so we get plans on the ground.”

“We also look at the longer term structural issues regarding the positioning of a municipal wide cooperative,” Collver said.

PlantAsian is a Philippine incorporated consulting and services management company established to identify and create business opportunities that are underdeveloped, undervalued, or unknown within the agricultural sector.

Meantime, the team will still sit down in mapping out pilot sites for the plantation area for cacao in the barangays based on the proposal that the group will present to the local officials before the end of the month.

Glan has total land area of about 70,000 hectares where more or less 40,000 hectares are coconut farms.

Glan is the leading copra producer in the region and coconut is the primary source of income of the townsfolk.

Collver projected cocoa production could start in two years after planting. As plans progress then “we will make final arrangements for the construction of the facility for the processing, fermenting and drying” of the yield.

The “right soils, right climate” and dependability of people are very important in putting up the investment, Collver said. He pointed out the project is feasible in Glan.

Collver cited the potential revenue earnings from by-products of cocoa and the coconut for export market thus “creating jobs and livelihood” for the people. For more news and updates, please visit the <a href= http://www.sarangani.gov.ph/ >Province of Sarangani </a> (Beverly C. Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)