CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro: The provincial government is encouraging local farmers here to engage in black pepper farming, citing the province's potential on growing the condiment and the expanding market.

"We are grateful to the provincial government that they have given us the opportunity to engage the services of national government agencies to help in our production, nursery building, and marketing and promotions to our products," said Nilo Dimailig of the Oriental Mindoro Black Pepper Growers Association.

Dimailig said on Saturday, March 2, that their group attended a forum aimed at encouraging the farmers to plant black pepper, more popularly known as paminta, and increase the area of land devoted to the said plant.

The forum was organized by the Provincial Cooperative Development Office (PCDO) at the Tamaraw Hall on February 27.

Dimailig, who was once the provincial agriculture officer, added that based on the data, Oriental Mindoro is ranked third in terms of production nationwide and number one in the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) region in terms of production and area.

According to our data, there are 44.8 hectares currently planted with paminta in the towns of Baco, Bulalacao, Naujan, Victoria, Pola and Gloria, and we are harvesting an average of 52 metric tons per year. The price of the black pepper can fetch from P400 to P600 per kilogram, said Dimailig.

He said that during the forum, they requested the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology to provide them planting materials, nursery building and training on management, marketing and promotions.

"We will be coordinating with the different municipal and city agriculture offices for an area mapping of lands suited for black pepper," said Dimailig.

"We already had communicated with the respective local government units for this. Our initial target market is in Oriental Mindoro, and as of now, we are concentrating on our production, and if we saturate the local market, we can expand to other regions and even the international market," he added.

PCDO officer Orlando Tizon, in a message, said that the local black pepper growers have the full support of the provincial government.