Universal Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 12(1), pp. 24 - 34
DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2024.120103
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Identifying Key Challenges in Abaca (Musa textilis Née) Production: A Study in Two Aklan Municipalities, Philippines

Gene T. Señeris ^*
Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Aklan State University, Philippines

ABSTRACT

The Philippines holds the top position globally when it comes to exporting abaca fiber, while Aklan Province ranks within the top five abaca-producing provinces in the country, contributing a significant 6% to the nation's overall fiber production. In recent years, the demand for abaca is rapidly growing internationally and today the production is insufficient to meet the local and global demand for fiber products due to improper agricultural practices, pests and diseases, lack of technologies, and support from the government. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate and identify the challenges affecting the production of abaca in the top two abaca-producing municipalities in Aklan. A questionnaire, crafted by the researcher, was dispersed to 408 farmers who were randomly chosen through the implementation of a stratified sampling technique. The methodology of analysis in this research was descriptive of the obtained data set and analyzed by using qualitative and quantitative statistics. Results showed that most of the abaca farmers in the two municipalities are male. Also, most of them (30 - 40%) were 51-60 years old during the conduct of the study. Farmers dedicate almost their whole productive lives to abaca farming, so most of them are doing it roughly for 21 years. Moreover, most farmers in the two municipalities are following the 2 m x 2 m planting distance. If they had planted abaca in all their land properties, they should have 2,500 plants/ha, according to the standard measurement of the PhilFIDA. However, the overall mean abaca plant population/ha was only 928 in Libacao and 890 in Madalag. Hence, only about 35% to 37% of the farmers are utilizing their land area for abaca production. The study also reveals that 35% of the abaca farmers are significantly affected by natural calamities causing immediate loss of abaca fiber production and income to all the farmers for several months and the challenges encountered by 34% of the farmers is lacking materials and equipment for abaca production. Among all government agencies, 39.60% of the abaca farmers were supported by PhilFIDA. This study provides relevant data and information that could help in crafting policies and guidelines to achieve the local and global demand for high-quality abaca fiber.

KEYWORDS
Abaca, Agricultural Practices, Aklan, Challenges, Fiber Production

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Gene T. Señeris , "Identifying Key Challenges in Abaca (Musa textilis Née) Production: A Study in Two Aklan Municipalities, Philippines," Universal Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 24 - 34, 2024. DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2024.120103.

(b). APA Format:
Gene T. Señeris (2024). Identifying Key Challenges in Abaca (Musa textilis Née) Production: A Study in Two Aklan Municipalities, Philippines. Universal Journal of Agricultural Research, 12(1), 24 - 34. DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2024.120103.