Doctor-farmer from Pampanga now top cassava grower in Phl

As a child, Richard Torno did not dream of becoming a farmer. In fact, he pursued a career as a veterinarian.

Forty two years later, Dr. Torno, who hails from Guagua, Pampanga, is now a remarkably successful farmer who holds the largest production of cassava in the entire Philippines. His father, who is his greatest influence in farming, introduced him to cassava, among other crops.

Cassava, or kamoteng kahoy to Filipinos, is one of the most important crops in the country. In many rural areas, it is considered a staple food and a substitute to rice because of its high carbohydrate content. About 15 million Filipinos eat cassava both as a staple and supplement, and more than 218,000 farm families depend on cassava for a living.

From being an undervalued crop in the past years, farmers and stakeholders began to recognize the value and many potentials of cassava.

Cassava is mainly used as food, processed feeds, and starch. Processed feeds remain to be cassava’s main utilization accounting for more than half of the country’s total production.

Torno, however, hopes to break this pattern and utilize more of cassava for human food.

He admitted he needed to start from scratch, with only the desire to learn and the courage to risk even his rising career as a veterinarian in Singapore.

It was in 2004 when he began his journey as a full-time farmer. It was also during this time when cassava dealt with extensive losses due to the proliferation of pest and diseases. This, however, did not discourage him from planting cassava.

His father, being a longtime farmer then, advised him too to go to other farmers to learn different techniques and gain practical knowledge. Hard work paid off and resulted in significant yield for Torno.

The income Torno earned out of the seven-hectare production area enabled him to purchase farm implements such as a tractor, fertilizers, and additional savings he later used as capital.

Torno said there are four success variables in his cassava production with respect to his conventional practices: soil type, planting practice, climate and crop rotation practices.

With cassava production areas in Floridablanca, Porac, and in Guagua in Pampanga, he considered this a good advantage over other cassava areas from other regions.

Pampanga’s soil type – thanks to lahar – is sandy loam which is an ideal soil for the crop.

The region is also fairly hot and humid on most months, creating a conducive growing environment for the crop especially during the planting season, which begins from January to February.

Deep ploughing also plays a crucial role in generating quality tubers.

He keeps a close eye on managing weeds that grow around the area.

One of the practices that keep cassava pests at bay is through crop rotation. This is carried out by planting other crops such as corn and sweet potato, Torno said.

For replanting, he gets planting materials from nearby farms which also share the same farming practices like his. He does not set aside a portion of his harvest as planting materials for the next season as this will entail longer storage, since he implements crop rotation patterns.

Although Torno has been quite successful using conventional practice, it did not stop him from acquiring additional knowledge to continuously improve his production.

When the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) 3 Research Division and Corn and Cassava Banner program implemented a project on the Site Specific Nutrient Management (SSNM) for Cassava, Torno was enthusiastic to be considered as one of its farmer-partners.

In partnership with the Bureau of Agricultural Research, the project carried out field fertilizer trials using the SSNM protocol for the development of cassava fertilizer recommendations.

The SSNM program for cassava is a research and development initiative on acquiring a new technology that will identify the minimum fertilizer requirement for cassava to reach its optimum and maximum production.

Fertilizer trials through omission plots were conducted at different locations in Region 3 using 4 replications. Two cassava varieties, Lakan 1 and Pinusuan (a local farmer’s variety) were used in the field experiment.

The project was able to determine the amount of nutrients being taken by the crop at certain growth stages, which, in turn, defined the correct timing of fertilizer application for maximum nutrient utilization.

To maintain soil health, the project also determined the amount of nutrient content of the different plant parts of cassava that can supply more nutrient to the soil once returned to the field.

Based on the results of the experiment, Torno acquired the highest yield of cassava at 33 tons/hectare (t/ha) versus farmers’ practice at 27 t/ha. On the average, SSNM yields

Dr. Torno 24 t/ha while farmers’ practice resulted to 20 t/ha.

Currently, the national average for SSNM cassava ranges from 12-14 t/ha. This means that Torno’s production using the SSNM recommendations exceeded the national average by almost 50 percent.

With farmers’ practice and SSNM technology combined, Torno’s produce ranged from 40-60 t/ha, making it the largest production in the entire country. 70 percent of his fresh produce is marketed in many parts of Metro Manila such as Divisoria, Muñoz, Pasig, Marikina, as well as in some provinces of Central Luzon.

He also regularly supplies fresh tubers to major cassava cake processors, such as Don Benito’s, whose cassava consumption requires seven to 10 tons per day.

Being able to link with Mekeni, a Pampanga-based food corporation giant, Torno’s cassava produce reaches other countries such as Australia, Japan, Dubai and the US.

When asked what he still wants to accomplish, Torno said he aims to produce a year-round supply of fresh cassava.

Since raw cassava tubers are highly perishable, he plans to embark on value adding technologies to produce grated vacuum pressed grated cassava.