Abaca farmers get new, safe machines from DoST-FPRDI

THE Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DoST-FPRDI) has finally come up with a solution to one of our abaca farmers' biggest concerns: a fiber-extracting machine that is both safe and effective.

"For a long time, many of our abaca farmers have had no choice but to use very hazardous fiber-extracting machines that expose them to moving blades. With the Institute's abaca decorticating machine, this hazard has been removed while still giving them high fiber quality and yield. This is an important development, especially since abaca is one of the country's most vital cash crops and top export earners," says Edward Paul Marasigan, DoST-FPRDI engineer.