The municipality of Kasibu in Nueva Vizcaya, declared by the Department of Agriculture as the “Citrus capital of Luzon” last June, recently launched its Citrus Farm Tour and Citrus-picking Experience Tourism Circuit.
The tourism and product promotion package is part of Kasibu’s development programs, projects, and activities to boost its emerging tourism industry.
The activity consists of visits to leading citrus orchards such as GL Cumila, SR, EHB, LCN, and Dulnuan. It was the highlight of the town’s Tourism Month celebration.
The town has an aggregate area of 529 hectares teeming with calamandarin oranges, mandarin (satsuma and ponkan), and pomelos.
According to Mayor Romeo Tayaban, the campaign tour is also part of the “Feel the Vibe Vizcaya” strategy based on the province’s five-year Tourism Development Plan.
He also called for sustained multisectoral partnerships to strengthen Kasibu’s agricultural sector, which could propel the town to eventually become the country’s citrus capital.
The farm tours also serve as a forum for knowledge sharing between the farm owners, managers, stakeholders and policy-makers.
The farm owners reiterated their call for government interventions, such as the improvement of farm-to-market roads, provision of farm technologies, and marketing assistance, among others.
Visiting stakeholders also suggested more government scholarship slots for agriculturally-inclined students, technical assistance in processing citrus products, and farm-product certifications, such as the Philippine Good Agricultural Practices Program of the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry.
Local agriculture authorities have noted the economic potentials of citrus, with some planters diversifying to maximize their farm’s productivity to generate more employment opportunities for the community.