7

CHAPTER

AGRO-INDUSTRIAL PLAN

Until now many of the people in Calbayog still depend on farming and fishing for livelihood. The Next to coconut in importance is rice production, which in 2000 reached more than 8,000 metric tons of
predominance of agriculture and related natural resource based activities of the city is explained by its big land palay. This however is still less than half of the total demand for rice in the city. Abaca is the third most
area that provides the local population with ample opportunities for land based activities and the presence of important crop in the city where some 1.3 thousand metric tons of abaca fiber were produced in 2000 with a
Samar Sea facing Western Samar that allow the people living along the coastline to fish year round. The city total value of 16.7 million. Banana is next in importance to abaca. Other crops like corn, rootcrops, fruits and
has 57.7 thousand hectares of agricultural land or close to about thirds of its total land area while Samar which vegetables are produced minimally in the city. For its fruits and vegetable need the people of the city get their
is a rich fishing ground has an area of 1,900 square kilometers. supply from Cebu City.

Crops Production Table 7.2

Vegetable Production, in kilos
Calbayog City
The number one crop of the city is coconut which occupies 36.9 thousand hectares or 53% of its agriculture
land. In 2000, copra production reached a total of 24.2 thousand metric tons with an estimated total value of 2000 2001 2002

P230 million, and was mostly absorbed by the lone coconut oil mill in Samar Island that is located in the city. Cabbage - - 400
Pechay 2,538 2,874 7,344
Cauliflower - - 50
Table 7.1 Kang-kong 300 734.5 121
Output and Area Planted by Selected Crops, 2000 Ampalaya 7,003 12,938.5 24,811.5
Calbayog City Eggplant 4,415.15 5,716.5 5,380
Squash 552 768 3,360
Area Average Total Sweet Pepper 200 34 745
CROP Output Planted Yield Value Cucumber 513 56 506
(In MT) (In has.) (Per hectare) (In Pesos) Okra 320 848 478
Grains / Staple Crop Patola 138 585 351
Rice* (palay) 8,319.1 1,742.3 4.77 Tomatoes 1,444 50 345
Irrigated 1,380.1 284.2 4.86 Upo 342 215 240
Non-irrigated 6,404.0 1,299.1 4.93 Munggo 89 132 575
Upland 535.0 159.0 3.36 Peanut 150 - 200
Corn** 91.2 11.5 7.9 Pole Sitao 658 603.5 1,290
High Value Crop Source: CAO
Vegetables 33.9 18.8
Rootcrops** 21.3
Banana 869.2 859.0 1.01 3,476,624 Livestock and Poultry
Fiber Crops
Abaca 1,286.8 3,423.8 0.38 16,728,582
Perennial Crops Animal raising is not widely practiced in the city as shown by the limited number of heads of livestock and
Coconut (copra) 24,246 36,869.0 0.66 230,337,000 poultry recorded as of end of 2002. Of what the city raised, the most common are chicken and hogs. Cattle
* Average of area planted for first and second cropping. ** For 1998.
Source: City Agricultural Sector Development Master Plan and City Development Strategy of Calbayog City. and goats which are not very expensive to raise and most common in other areas of the country are rarely

Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023

CC CDMP
VISION
2023 38
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 39
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 40
found in the city. So, much of the city’s meat supply has to be procured from other areas, notably from Presently, some 3,364 individuals in 35 out of the 157 barangays in the city have fishing as their main source
Masbate. of income or livelihood using 384 motorized and 1,766 non-motorized boats with a total estimated annual fish
production of about 2,500 tons with total value of about P125 million.

Figure 7.3
Livestock Production Fishponds abound in Calbayog City. Aquamarine is also practiced in the city producing bangus and sugpo.
Calbayog City One of the modern method of fishing promoted by the city government is mariculture that uses fish cage to
grow fish.
800,000

600,000
2001 Forestry
400,000 2002

200,000 Despite the progress of the city, forestry remains an important economic activity for many people. The city has
- 50 thousand hectares of forestland, more than half of the city’s total area. Forestry is important because it can
Swine Carabao Cattle Poultry
provide some of the food requirements of its people. It is also a source of income from the harvest of trees that
Source of Basic Data: CAO are use for lumber or firewood. Valuable exotic products are also found in the forest, among which are the wild
flowers that are demanded for their decorative and aesthetic value, and plants that have medical and industrial
Fishery
uses. Various kinds of birds and animals that are found in the forest are also hunted for their food value and
other uses.
Calbayog City is gifted with a long coastal line that stretches for about 71 kilometers. This long coastal line is
facing Samar Sea that abounds with fish that provides livelihood to many fishermen of Calbayog City and
The city’s forest used to have a big stand of Narra, Apitong, Guijo, Red, White Lawaan, Molave, and
nearby towns and islands in Western Samar and Masbate. In addition the city also have 148 hectares of
Mahogany that are commonly used for construction. Because of rampant cutting of trees in the past, however,
developed fishpond.
very little of the city’s original tree stands remain and valuable trees are found only in the remotest area. The

Major pelagic caught in Samar Sea are anchovies, herring mackerel, red snapper, sardines, squid, prawn, crabs, last estimate made in 1987 showed that of the more than 50 thousand hectares of the city’s forestland only 6

shells, oysters and many others which are often more than the requirements of the local population. Thus, thousand hectares had a close canopy. Some of the deforested area are now planted to coconut trees, abaca,

Calbayog City is one of the major suppliers of fish in Metro Manila. It trucks daily to Manila its surplus fish banana and other perennial and short-term crops or built up but most are open or covered only with small
threes or bushes.
through the Pan-Philippine Highway that takes almost a day to complete the trip. So great is the demand for
fish in Manila that sometimes very little of the fish caught in Calbayog are left for the local market resulting in
higher prices. Assessment of Performance

Like the rest of Eastern Visayas, most of the people in Calbayog City are still dependent on agriculture for
The most common methods of fishing used among the local fishermen are the Danish-Seine, Bottom Set Gill
their livelihood that involves the production of various crops, the raising of livestock and poultry, fishing, and
Net, Hook and Line, Multiple Long Line, Fish Corral and Spear. The commercial method of fishing used the
Trawl, Purse-Seine, and Ring Net forestry.

The predominance of agriculture in Calbayog City is explained by its big land area that provides the local
population with ample opportunities for crop production and other forest-based activities. Of the more than

Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023

CC CDMP
VISION
2023 41
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 42
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 43
90 thousand hectares of land in the city 54.4 thousand hectares or 60 percent of the total is forestland. The fishermen go to the sea alone or with one or two others in a small with very little prospect of big catch due to
rest, 35.8 thousand hectares or 40 percent, is agricultural lands. there crude method of catching fish.

Based on area planted the planting and tending of coconut is the single most important agriculture endeavor Some farmers are already in the second stage that involves the planting of mixed crops with the intention to
in the city as more than 30 percent of the city’s agricultural land is covered with coconut tress. This explains sell a portion or most of their output for cash that they can use to buy the things that they need. Few, however,
why the city had been selected to be the location of the only coconut oil mill operating in the island of Samar. or non-probably, if we have to be strict about it, are in the third stage of high productivity agriculture where
In 2000 copra production reached a total of 24.2 thousand metric tons with an estimated total value of P230 production is highly specialized and geared mainly for commercial purposes like the highly specialized
million. vegetable farms in Baguio, flower farms in Cebu, or the big plantations of pineapple and bananas in
Mindanao.
Next to coconut in importance in the city is rice production, which in 2000 amounted to more than 8,000
metric tons of palay. This however is still less than half of the total demand for rice in the city. Abaca is the Failure of most of the city’s’ farmer to graduate to the second or third stage of agriculture development or that
third most important crop where some 1.3 thousand metric tons of abaca fiber were produced in 2000 with a of the city’s small fisherman to modernize and go into commercial fishing and the more profitable aquaculture
total value of 16.7 million. Banana in fourth in importance. For other crops like corn, rootcrops, fruits and and mariculture destined many people to poverty. This is why the City of Calbayog and the rest of Eastern
vegetables, very little are produced in the city. For it fruits and vegetable the people of the city get their supply Samar, which are in the same predicament economically, were losing many of their most promising and
from Cebu City mostly. productive workers to out-migration in the past.

Animal raising provide extra income to the farmers. Despite the availability of extensive land for raising Despite its drawbacks, agriculture still remains an important sector for the City of Calbayog for a number of
animals in the city, however, most of its meat supplies comes from Masbate Island as the farmers in the city are reasons.
not raising enough animals to meet their local demand for meat.
• First, agriculture’s role in economic development is central because most of the people in the city still make
The long coastal ling of the city, covering 71 kilometers in length and the presence of the 1,900 square their living from the land;
kilometer Samar Sea facing the Western side of Samar Island makes fishing the second most important
economic activity in Calbayog City after farming. Thus, the city is also a major supplier of fish in Metro • Second, agriculture provides for most of the food requirement of the city although production is still low
Manila, which it trucks daily through the Pan-Philippine Highway. and import from other provinces is still being resorted to;

Aside from accommodating the need for farm lands the big land area of the city assures that forestry remains • Third, agriculture or the rural sector in general provides the inputs, including labor, to industry and to the
an important activity to some people from where they can get some of their food requirements and other other sectors of the economy in the city;
products that have commercial value. The excessive cutting of trees in past however now left the city with only
6,000 close canopy forest out of its more than 50 thousand hectares of forest land. The rest are already built-
• Fourth, with the city’s copra, coconut oil, and abaca fiber, finding their way into the export market,
up, planted to crops, or left open to the growth of bushes.
agriculture also has an important role in contributing to the country’s reserves of foreign exchange;

Presently most of the farmers in the city are still in the first stage of agriculture, which is characterized by low
• Finally, agriculture or the rural sector is an important market for the output of the city’s urban sector.
productivity and subsistence level farming. This includes many farmers cultivating small lots for rice and corn
and other food crops that are intended mainly for their own use. The same can be said of fishing where many

Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023

CC CDMP
VISION
2023 44
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 45
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 46
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 47
Objectives Farm Supports

Since many of the people in the city are engaged in agriculture, the first thing that the city can do to attain a To overcome the fear of the farmers to go into diversified farming efforts should be undertaken to minimize
higher level of development is to raise the agriculture population’s productivity in growing food and cash risks and remove many of the institutional and commercial obstacles that face the small farmers. This include
crops, raising animals and catching fish. Another is to help the farmers and fishermen in the city to receive a includes technical, credit and marketing assistance along with the provision or general improvement of the
higher farm gate price for what they can produce. rural infrastructure that serve the farmers like road, irrigation, public markets, water supply, electricity, and
others.
When higher productivity is achieved along with a good price of agricultural commodities, rural income will
then increase, and thus lifting the overall welfare of the farming and fishing families that form the majority of Security of Tenure
the people in Calbayog City. Only then can poverty be reduced in the rural areas of the city. And only then
can the people of the city fulfill their higher aspirations in life. Providing a secure tenure right to the farmers will also encourage the farmers to raise their productivity. This is
necessary to assure the farmers that they will get most of the benefits from moving out of sustenance farming
Strategy and Policy Recommendations into diversified or mixed farming which will require more investments and effort on their part. In this regard
the land reform program should be accelerated in the city so that farmers covered in the program will be
Diversified Farming encouraged to put in more capital and labor into their farms.

The main strategy to raise the income from agriculture is to encourage the city’s subsistence farmers to switch Fishery Modernization
from subsistence farming into diversified or mixed farming. Here food crop will no longer be their primary
product. New cash crops such as fruits, vegetables, coffee, and other high value crops can be planted in some To improve the well being of the poor fishing population in the city the strategy is to help them acquire bigger
portion of the farm or during slack time of the food crop season so that the farmers will be able to bring boats and modern fishing equipment to enable them to compete with big commercial fishermen. This goes
something to the market for cash. The planting of food crops need not stop entirely because the farmers had with an appropriated extension services that will impart on the targeted fishermen the new technology in
long been accustomed to them and dependent on them for their sustenance. Part of the reason why farmers are fishing. Added to this is credit and marketing assistance program and other support to the fishing industry as a
reluctant to go into diversified or specialized farming is the fear that in case of failure of the cash crops they whole like the building of a fish landing and market with the necessary supply of ice and cold storage facilities
may not have something to eat anymore. when ever necessary.

Animal Raising Fish processing, particularly canning, will also be promoted to increase the demand for fish and stabilized
price. This will rescue the fishermen from selling their catch at very low price for lack of buyers.
An important component of this strategy is to integrate the production of diversified crops with animal raising.
This is important not only to provide meat for the protein need of the farmers but also as a means to augment Aside from marine fishing, aquaculture and mariculture shall also be encouraged among fishermen. This
their income. modern method of fishing maybe too complicated and expensive to the small fishermen but this can be
promoted if the government will give full support to its development.
This strategy will also help the city to be wane eventually from its dependence on Masbate Island for meat
supply.

Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023

CC CDMP
VISION
2023 48
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 49
Agri-Business Agro-Industrialization Policy

Agri-business is another area to be looked into in Calbayog City. Agri-business means applying corporate Agricultural policies should directed towards industrialization and commercialization of crops production.
business practices in farming. This is usually applied in large scale specialized farms which may be organized on Necessary facilities vital to horizontal and vertical linkages of agriculture shall also be pushed through. The
large track of farmland owned by a corporation or consolidated from small farms owned by many small following are the recommended crops for possible industrialization and commercialization of production that
farmers. Production is usually for export and may involved multinational firms like what is found in suitable to 3 to 4 physical characteristics of Calbayog City.
Mindanao. Agri-business is the highest stage of farming development. The first is sustenance or peasant
farming and the second is diversified farming. Table 7.3
Crops for Possible Commercial and Industrial Production
Calbayog City
Rural Mobilization
SUITABLE CROPS Temperature Rainfall Soil Type Soil Ph
A rural mobilization program to create more jobs and livelihood opportunities not directly related to farming Abaca v v v v
and fishing is also necessary to raise the level of income in the rural areas of the city. This will also foster the Banana v v v v
Cacao v x v v
development of an integrated rural economy. This is important if we have to make the economy of Calbayog
Cassava v x v v
truly vibrant and widespread and not only seen and concentrated in its urban centers that benefit little the
Cashew v v v v
rural agricultural population. Coconut v v v v
Coffee x v v v
Transfer Development Rights Cotton v x v v
Durian x v v v
Eggplant v v v v
One way encouraging support from local populace to engage into extensive farming and protect agricultural Grapes v v v v
lands from conversion is to introduce Transfer Development Rights (TDR) policy. TDR policy is also useful Mango v v v v
in advocating environmental control and housing compliance to informal settlers. Mangosteen v v v v
Mungbean v x v v
Oil palm v v v v
Okra v x v v
Papaya v v x v
Peanut v x v v
Pineapple v v v v
Tobacco v x v v
Tomato v x v v
Legend: v = suitable, x = not suitable
Source: Environmental Adaptation of Crops, UP-Los Baños.

Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023

CC CDMP
VISION
2023 50
Calbayog City Comprehensive Development Master Plan, 2003-2023
CC CDMP
VISION
2023 51