HEDCOR Sibulan, Inc. together with the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) trained 90 indigenous peoples (IP) from Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur on how to farm abaca at their areas last October.
“The training aims to let the IP farmers acquire knowledge on the proper cultural management of abaca, update them on the market opportunities and trends of abaca industry and the many uses of abaca they need to know,” FIDA Sr. Agriculturist Analyn Bolivar said during the training.
Hedcor and FIDA believe that the training is helpful to the abaca farmers because of its viability to the market. Abaca as one of the endemic treasures of the country can now be used for soap making, cosmetics, and beauty cream besides the usual abaca-made hemp products.
“Nakatabang ang training sa ako. Mas nakabalo nako unsa ang saktong proseso sa pag-atiman sa abaca. Gitudluan pod mi nila sa mga lain lain nga produkto gikan niini. (I learned how to grow the abaca properly through the training. We were also taught on the different products from abaca),” said 51 year-old Linda Alid.
