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The Department of Agriculture is expanding ube production in Cagayan Valley to meet growing international demand for the purple yam and expand export opportunities for farmers
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The DA’s regional office in Cagayan Valley has allocated P3.7 million to produce ube planting setts, with some already delivered to Echague, Isabela as of October 7
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The region is targeting an initial 100 hectares in Isabela, with plans to expand to 500 hectares by 2028
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Korean investors from Carnot Fleet and DA officials assessed Simon’s Farm in Echague on to identify development needs
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Potential investments include cold storage, mechanization, automated irrigation, consolidation facilities, processing and carbon-credit opportunities
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is expanding ube production in Cagayan Valley to meet growing international demand for the purple yam and open more export opportunities for Filipino farmers.
The DA said its Regional Field Office II is working with the municipal government of Echague in Isabela province, farmer cooperatives and associations, and potential business partners to increase production and strengthen market linkages.
Agriculture secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said collaboration with local government units (LGUs) is essential to accelerating production and developing a competitive ube industry.
“By combining the DA’s technical expertise and production support with the LGUs’ capacity to mobilize farmers, identify suitable areas, and provide local support, we can accelerate expansion, respond to growing global demand, and develop a bigger export market that will translate into higher and more sustainable incomes for our farmers,” Tiu Laurel said.
Under the initiative, production areas and target volumes are determined by market demand, buyer requirements and farmers’ capacity.
The DA provides technical assistance and quality planting materials, while LGUs organize farmers, identify suitable production areas and mobilize local resources. Private-sector partners and institutional buyers help ensure that output meets market specifications.
Ube planting materials
As of October 7, the DA regional office had allocated P3.7 million to produce 420,000 ube setts, or planting materials weighing about 100 grams each, through six research centers and stations.
Of the total, 211,180 setts had been delivered to Echague, while the remaining 208,820 were expected to follow.
READ: DA suspends fresh ube exports to protect planting stock
The initiative is intended to support the development of an additional 70 hectares of ube farms, which would require another 1.4 million setts. The DA aims to meet the requirement by December through increased propagation and supplemental sourcing beyond the capacity of its research stations.
Multi-sector collaboration
On October 1, Korean investors from Carnot Fleet, together with DA Regional Field Office II and the Echague municipal government, assessed Simon’s Farm to determine its development requirements.
Discussions with the Agricultural Credit Policy Council covered potential interventions in cold storage, farm mechanization, automated irrigation, consolidation facilities, ube processing and carbon-credit opportunities, subject to further assessment.
Cagayan Valley regional executive director Rose Mary Aquino said the region had laid the groundwork for ube production and exports two years before the crop gained global popularity.
A processing facility at Quirino State University, funded by the DA’s Bureau of Agricultural Research, serves as a shared facility for technology business incubation. It is being used to evaluate and refine ube powder quality to meet export requirements.
The facility helped produce ube powder samples that met Japan’s quality requirements, with marketing assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Building on these efforts, the region has expanded planting material production and strengthened public-private partnerships to increase output and develop market access.
Aquino said the initial target is to establish 100 hectares of ube production in Isabela, with expansion to 500 hectares by 2028.
Small farmers are also being brought into the production chain through partnerships with private investors, helping provide market outlets for their harvests.
The DA said the expansion strategy aligns production growth with reliable markets, infrastructure and processing capacity, turning rising international demand into sustainable income for Filipino farmers.
READ: DA eyes P300M to double ube output for export demand
