Photo collage from DOST-FRDI
By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Patience really pays as a recent study conducted by our Filipino scientists from the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) have recently found that the “Bandala” abaca hybrid yields high-quality fiber that makes it a promising material for pulp and paper.
With this development, this would pave the way for a promising growth and demand in our country’s abaca industry.
Through the auspices and support of the DOST-FPRD, the abaca industry’s research and development program sets to improve and expand the use of abaca and other natural fibers in making specialty paper and other high-end products that would require big demand in both local and global market.
With over 60 years of meticulous research of Pinoy scientists, the discovery of Bandala is a breakthrough and thanks to the Institute of Plant Breeding – University of the Philippines Los Baños where most of the research has been conducted.
Needless to say, our local scientists have spent hundreds of hours in laboratories trying to come up with the kind of plant that would meet the needs of local abaca farmers and adapt to changing environmental conditions.
The quest for breeding the right types of abaca and banana (the two plant species are close relatives), yielded Bandala and it has acquired the traits of the ideal hybrid. It is high-yielding, drought-tolerant, and able to withstand the attack of the notorious abaca bunchy-top virus or ABTV.
In the statement sent to THEPHILBIZNEWS by DOST-FPRDI, their Researcher Aimee Trixie R. Habon said, “Our finding was that the physical properties (basis weight, thickness, folding endurance, and burst, tensile and tear indices) of the Bandala paper sheets we studied were comparable to those of commercial abaca.”
“This is important because it shows that the hybrid has high economic potential,” Habon added.
Abaca, which is known as the world’s strongest natural fiber is endemic to the Philippines, and through the years we remain the world’s number one abaca supplier and it is the source of livelihood for about 200,000 farming families in 56 provinces.
Dubbed as the world’s strongest natural fiber, abaca is currently the preferred raw material for various modern technologies employed in making the ship and power transmission ropes, car interiors, well-drilling cables, furnishing, textile, as well as specialty and security paper.
Now, with the strong support of different science-based agencies, the industry as a very promising future and is expected to provide more opportunities to our abaca farmers.
The successful discovery of the Bandala is a collaboration with various government agencies including the UPLB-IPB, and the DOST- Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD). It has also put in place a Strategic Abaca Industry Science & Technology Roadmap for the Philippines and for the benefit of the abaca farmers.