BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
KASIBU’s staging of the Second Citrus Festival 2024 reinforces its claim as Luzon’s epicenter for the popular tropical fruit.
Anchored on the theme “Deeper for Resiliency and Productivity,” the festival held on August 8 showcased the outstanding contribution of citrus farmers to making Kasibu known for its vast plantations of citrus.
It was on June 24, 2022 when Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, was declared the “Citrus Capital of Luzon” by then-agriculture secretary William Dar, paving the way for the municipality to celebrate the annual citrus festival to showcase the rich culture and bountiful citrus harvest of the town.
Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban, Vice Mayor Alberto Bumolo and members of Kasibu Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) led the town in welcoming and thanking visitors for attending the festival.
Tayaban also gave tribute to Kasibu’s citrus growers.
“One of the reasons why Kasibu is known as the Citrus Capital of Luzon is because of your hard work and dedication to improve and increase your harvest. You are the first to be recognized as a top producer of citrus in Luzon,” he said.
The mayor also thanked various agencies for their willingness to help and support the continued prosperity and development of the town.
Representing DA Region 2 Executive Director Rose Mary Aquino during the event, DA Officer in Charge for Region 2 Technical for Operations and Extensions Roberto Busania congratulated the local government unit (LGU) of Kasibu for the success of the citrus festival.
Busania also assured all cooperatives and farmers of Kasibu that the DA “shall continue to provide training, programs and agricultural interventions, especially on food processing.”
“We are so happy that we have seen the fruits of our sacrifices and efforts to promote the citrus industry here in Kasibu. We hope that our support and cooperation will continue to expand the production of citrus into other agricultural commodities,” Busania said.
Representing Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., Cherry Marie Natividad-Caballero, DA undersecretary for High Value Crops Development Program, said that “the DA will continue to support the citrus industry and collaborate with the provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya to support the fast-growing agricultural industry of Kasibu.”
“We assure that the Department of Agriculture shall continue to provide support on technology adaptations to farmers, programs and training, particularly on food processing, marketing and digital agriculture, through the use of drones,” Caballero said.
She said that to empower citrus farmers and sustain their strength in farming, “we will continue to support and partner with LGUs for the continuous growth and development of the citrus industry here in Kasibu in tandem with our partners in the public and private sector.”
“We earnestly hope for heightened support from industry stakeholders to continue and sustain the much-needed backing and support toward a stronger and more prosperous citrus industry,” Caballero said.
She also lauded the untiring efforts of the farmers in Nueva Vizcaya for their big contributions to ensure food security not only in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) but for the entire Philippines as well.
“I believe that as we work together, we will be able to face all the challenges that we may encounter. We will make the citrus industry more productive and profitable to attain our goal of affordable, safe and nutritious food for all,” Caballero added.
Joining the festival were Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma and Gov. Jose “Jing” Gambito, who gave tribute to the municipality’s initiatives on agriculture.