Citronella grass
By Tess Bacalla, VERA Files
The sun has been up at least two hours. Yet hardly anyone in the remote village of Kanapawan, Camarines Norte---an eight-hour bus drive from Manila---seems poised for farm work. This is unusual for a community used to rising at the crack of dawn.
At this time of day, many of the farms folk are still in their homes, the memories of the recent four-day festivity still vivid in their minds while their bodies are still sore from endless merrymaking that included dancing and singing at the community plaza.
On other days, many of the community residents, particularly the women, would already be awake just when the roosters have begun to crow, or before the sun casts its first rays.
"I wake up early in the morning, prepare my kids for school, then leave for the field by 7 or 8 a.m.," Cherry Esperas said.
But today Esperas, a mother of three and one of the women farmers in this village, is taking a much-deserved break from farming, as do many others in her community.
The almost weeklong celebration held in mid-August and unprecedented in Barangay Kanapawan's history, was a fitting cap to a relatively bountiful season of harvests, not so much of their traditional major crop coconut, but of the cogon-like citronella grass.
Farmers now plant citronella grass by the hundreds of tillers, often in between coconut trees to maximize land use. Lands deemed unsuitable for other crops are also planted to citronella.
Citronella, once thought to be a nuisance by the farmers, is now a significant alternative source of income in this marginal upland community, usually prone to soil and water loss and moisture deficiency that adversely impact soil yields.
The tropical grass belongs to the same family as the lemon grass. The essential oil extracted from this plant—through a process called steam distillation—is a popular natural ingredient for insect and animal repellents. It is also widely used in soaps, air fresheners, skin lotions, scented candles, and perfumes.
Preparing air-dried citronella grass for oil extractionToday, at least 43 hectares are devoted to the cultivation of this perennial grass in Kanapawan, which has an estimated population of 3,000. Those without lands to till still earn through any one of a number of ways—from hauling the harvested grass to extracting oil in the extraction facilities built by the Kooperatiba ng Maliliit na Magniniyog ng Barangay Kanapawan (KMMBK). This cooperative is spearheading the citronella enterprise in the community with the help of a nongovernment organization.
An average of 15 to 20 kilograms of citronella oil are produced weekly at Kanapawan's oil extraction facilities, according to Jonalyn Crisostomo, technical and research assistant of the Philippine Federation of Environmental Concern (PFEC) which is assisting the community with its citronella production aside from helping them explore the sustainable use of its agricultural resources.
Citronella can withstand climate change, Dr. Roger Guzman, executive director of PFEC, said. Unlike coconut trees, it grows even under extreme temperatures, with or without rain. It's very suited to marginal lands, he added.
When the idea of planting citronella was introduced in Kanapawan in the late 1990s by a consultant from the University of the Philippines Los Baños whom the KMMBK invited in one of its seminars, nobody believed it was feasible. Coupled with inadequate resources and technological knowhow, it took many years before that idea took root and began to flourish.
In those good old days the climates were friendlier to their crops and harvests aplenty. "Ang pananim namin talagang madami—kamoteng kahoy, saging… (We had an abundant farm produce—cassava, banana…)," 70-year-old Jovita Esperas recounted.
Not anymore, she quipped. It's a good thing she said they now plant citronella, which assures them of a steady income, especially on days when coconut production or harvests of other crops are inadequate to meet their basic needs.
"Halos lahat ng ka-barangay me trabaho (Almost everyone in the barangay has work)," barangay chairman Larry Esperas enthused.
Cherry Esperas said she earns P100 to P150 a day as a citronella harvester. Others earn between P210 and 280 daily by extracting oil.
"Part of our strategy (in Kanapawan) is not to have huge (citronella) plantations," Kathleen Ramilo, PFEC enterprise development officer, explained. "We didn't want to replace with citronella those (crops) that are otherwise sources of their food."
Early this year, Kanapawan's major citronella buyer, Human Nature, turned over P973,000, representing 100 percent profit from its Citronella Bug Spray product, to the community as part of its advocacy to help local farmers. Part of the money was used to provide the citronella farmers with the socialized Philhealth insurance and expand their oil extraction facilities.
Kanapawan today is a breathtaking sight of lush green hills and free-flowing, meandering rivers where young and old alike can be found bathing and washing clothes on any given day.
Clump after clump of tropical grasses once thought worthless are now gleaming under the sun -- a joyful demonstration of man and nature in harmony.
(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.")
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