TAGBILARAN CITY, August 25, 2017 (PIA) --How long does it take to grow and harvest cacao?
One and a half years if grafted, said 67 year old Bern Karaan, who has had 6 years of cacao planted in his farm in Jagna.
This as Boholanos have been exposed to the feasibility and marketability of the cacao as government gives the crop a sweet push.
Cacao industry workers in Bohol have assumed that because growing the crop uses up so much time before one can harvest, it is placed in the backrooms.
The shortened time for growth, they believed, could change the mentality of people.
A high value commercial crop with a potential to make one moneyed, a native cacao which may have its traces from MesoAmerica during the Manila Acapulco trade, planted at 3 meters by 3 meters can produce between 2 to 3 tons annually, according to Philippine cacao expert Christopher Fadriga, national president of Plantacion de Sikwate.