MANILA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government will allocate a five-billion-peso (106.9 million U.S. dollars) budget in the next five years to rehabilitate the abaca industry, the Department of Agriculture said Friday.
According to Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol, the government is targeting 900,000 hectares of abaca plantation that need intervention.
"There is a great demand for abaca all over the world and there are only three countries producing it: Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica," he said.
"We really have to exploit new opportunities in front of us, as far as abaca is concerned," he added.
An initial funding of 100 million pesos will be downloaded to a town in Southern Leyte, an abaca-producing province in central Philippines, Pinol said.
The five-year program for the abaca industry covers the provision of planting materials, fertilizers, modern technology and stripping machines.
