Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Philippine Center for Postharvest
Development and Mechanization
CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

SUCCESS STORIES

Ifugao Tapioca Growers Association and the Cassava Digger
by Pia Sarina M. Fukasawa (March 18, 2019)
A smile a day can make a rotten cassava away. This is what 56 year old Mr. Cyril Cattiling always say when talking about his cassava farm in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao. Cattiling believes that being a happy person can contribute a lot when it comes to taking care of his cassava and in harvesting a bountiful cassava.

Cattiling has been in cassava farming since 2013. Ever since, he is a dedicated and a hands-on owner of the 54 hectares cassava farm in Alfonso Lista. He is also the president of Ifugao Tapioca Growers Association (ITGA) and farm manager of YAO JIA XI Corporation which deals cassava granules to San Miguel Corporation (SMC). The ITGA started in 2015 to organize all cassava growers in the municipality. YAO JIA XI is a farming corporation which gives planting materials and shares technology to farmers who are members of ITGA.

Cattiling narrated how he became familiar with the cassava digger. It was in a Corn Congress in Tagaytay when he met Engr. Donald Mateo of PHilMech and was introduced to the technology. The ACT (Machineries and Metal Craft) Corporation is the partner of PHilMech in the development of the cassava digger. According to

Cattiling, there was a demo first in their province before he finally decided to buy the digger.

Cattiling explained that they are having a hard time in finding laborers. Laborers in their province came from other provinces because most people in Alfonso, Lista have a farm to take care also. Before, they will find 15 laborers for manual uprooting. That’s 250 pesos a day per person. It took them two weeks to harvest a one hectare farm. But now with cassava digger, it only takes one to two days of harvest using the digger and with only nine laborers.

Cattiling admitted that there’s a huge difference now that they have the digger. Aside from being less time consuming, labor cost is also lessened. The cassava is not hard to maintain. You just need to be patient with it, said Cattiling. In their province, cassava is produced because of its sandy loam farms. This is why having the cassava digger saves them a lot of work.

Following good land preparations is one of the keys for a bountiful cassava harvest. Farmers should also follow the machines’ instruction manual. “Patience always bring success. It is not an overnight process, you must be willing to work hard and wait for good results”, said Cattiling.