Boom in Brooms: The Potentials of Tiger Grass Industry

Marigondon Norte is a tiger grass growing village in San Andres, Romblon. It is located in the northeastern part of the municipality along the lush and rolling mountains of central Tablas. It is bounded by San Agustin in the east and Calatrava in the north. It has an approximate total land area of 2,800 hectares and is home to about 221 households of 1,175 (NSO, 2005) people. It is a typical remote agricultural Philippine village, barely reached by technological breakthroughs because of its rugged trails and far-flung distance (about 14-18km) from the town proper. Although passable to robust motorcycles and sturdy vehicles, transportation remains a major problem because large portions of the service road are still in bad shape and condition.


Tiger grass industry is already a long time economic activity in the locality but its potential has not been fully exploited. Records revealed that a number of interventions were made for the industry to pick up but they were short-lived. It was not until the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) identified tiger grass as a crop for One Town, One Product (OTOP) program of San Andres that efforts were rekindled to help develop the potential of this industry. Although some data about tiger grass industry in the community were available, these were insufficient to start a strategic and effective intervention. To establish comprehensive baseline data from which developmental efforts are to be anchored, a survey among 100 tiger grass farmers was conducted in the community during the months of December 2009 and January 2010. The list of farmers was provided by the Barangay Council of Mari-Norte but others were identified by key informants including previous barangay officials and Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman. A questionnaire, worded in Filipino, was prepared, face validated by experts from DTI and RSU and pretested among former tiger grass farmers. Vernacular was used in the actual interview.

Results showed that out of the 100 tiger grass farmers surveyed, 71 were males and 29 were females. Most were married with an average of 4 dependents. The age of farmers ranged from 22 to 79 years old but most were 42 years old. About 80 percent of them were not able to receive a college education and majority spent few years only in high school. Their approximate annual income varied between P2,500 to P130,000 with an average of P20,500 per farmer. The combined annual income of these farmers was P2,683,000 which was usually sourced from tiger grass farming, copra production, poultry, tiger grass processing and nito handicrafts. Most of these farmers were not affiliated with any social organization.

There were 86 farmers whose economic activity was concentrated on tiger grass farming alone while 14 doubled to farming and processing. There was some hesitance on the part of most farmers to venture into soft broom making because the process entailed additional labor and they preferred quick cash. The length of their farming experience ranged from 1 to 38 years with an average of 10 ½ years. Most of the broom processors were engaged in the industry for about 20 years already, others for 38 years.

Most of the tiger grass farms were owned by farmers but some were tilled by tenants. It was very common to see farms that were 2 km away from homes. Although some farms were situated just beside homes, others were located as far as 5 km away. The farm area estimates ranged from 0.3 to 9 hectares with an average of 1 hectare per farmer. The total farm size was 130.6 hectares distributed in the following locations: Ambunan (39 has.), Hagnaya (37.8 has.), Naruntan (24.75 has.), Lindero (14.3 has.) Hagimit Big (7.75 has.) and Hagimit Small (7 has.).

Tiger grass farms were also planted with coconut, other rootcrops and palay while others were solely dedicated to tiger grass plantation. The crop calendar usually began with site clearing using the slash and burn (kaingin) technique as early as January or February. By May, the land was ready for the sowing of palay seeds. Around June or July, when the palays were already about a foot tall, tiger grasses were planted alongside with the palays. By September or October, palays were harvested but the tiger grasses were left growing. By January to February, the tiger grasses began producing flowers and by March or April, these were already harvested.

Managing a tiger grass plantation required an estimated annual expenses of P100 to P15,000 depending on farm size. However, the average expense per farmer was estimated at P2,000 a year. The reported cumulative annual expense including farm inputs and farm help was P284,600. Farm help was usually provided for free by family members, neighbors, nephews, cousins and friends. But some paid about P120 to P150 a day per worker.

The ideal months for planting tiger grass were from June to July. There was no day or time preference for planting because the crop can be planted any time and any day within those months. No superstition related to tiger grass planting was reported. The different farm implements used in planting were tara-tara, a sharp rectangular iron attached to a long wooden handle; tagad, a long piece of wood tapered and sharpened in one end; bolo; pala; and piko.

The most common farming practice was to plant 1 to 5 tiger grass hills (seedlings) per hole with intervals 1 m x 1 m intervals. Others were spacing the crops by 1.5 m x 1.5 m and 3 m x 3 m. With this practice, a hectare of land can be planted with 1,000 to 10,000 hills. Weeding and clearing the underside of the plants were factors affecting flowering performance. These were commonly done once a year by most farmers while others were doing this twice or thrice a year. The following harvest and post-harvest practices were observed: cutting the stalks while the panicles were still green and not yet fully mature, sun drying of panicles for three days; and patting sun dried panicles against rocks to shake off the flowers and pollens.

The production volume was measured in terms of bundle, a pack of about 100 stalks of cleaned and sun-dried tiger grass panicles. As of last harvest season, the reported average production volume was 600 bundles per farmer or approximately 80,630 bundles for all farmers. In seasons of low production, volume ranged from 3 to 1,500 bundles with an average of 200 bundles per farmer. In seasons of normal produce, volume ranged from 5 to 3,000 bundles with an average of 400 bundles per farmer. And in seasons of high produce, volume ranged from 30 to 5,000 bundles with an average of 500 bundles per farmer.

Two tiger grass products were produced in the locality: dried luway, the material used in making soft brooms; and the soft broom itself (walis tambo). In harvest months, the tendered price for luway ranged from P10 to P35 per bundle. The average price per bundle was P12. During off-peak months, the tendered price increased between P12 to P50 and the average price of each bundle also increased to P20. Price of walis tambo also varied between peak and off peak months ranging from P10 to P60.

Farmers commonly sold their produce to luway wholesalers and to luway sales agents. In 2009, the estimated volume of 80,630 bundles were sold to these local agents: Mr. Manasan of Doña Juana (22,200 bundles), Mr. Robert Gabon (20,830 bundles), other agents in Mari-Norte (17,450 bundles), Mr. Gaciles of San Andres (8,650 bundles), agent for Mindoro (4,000 bundles), agent in Mari-Sur (3,600 bundles), agent for Aklan (3,200 bundles) and agent for Odiongan (700 bundles).

The estimated annual income earned by a farmer for dried luway production alone was about P9,500. It was found out that an estimated P1,122,500 income could be realized from this industry representing about 50 percent of the farmers’ total annual income estimate which was P2,263,000.

Common problems encountered by farmers were lack of financial resource for clearing, labor pay and seedling acquisition; attack of rodents like rats specially when the farms were not cleaned; lack of support from the local government in terms of finding a market; low tendered price for products; poor product quality particularly when it rained during harvest and drying process; and absence of tiger grass processing facilities.

Given proper attention, focus and sustained support, tiger grass production and soft broom processing promise a potential multi-million industry for Barangay Marigondon Norte and for the municipality of San Andres in general. If the industry’s 2009 production volume of 80,630 bundles can be maintained or improved, it can generate an estimated revenue of P1M to P2M depending on the prevailing market prices. However, if these raw materials were to be processed into soft brooms, an estimated 241,890 brooms can be produced creating an annual revenue ranging from P3.6M to P7.3M. Figures may be higher if their primitive farming and traditional marketing practices could be improved.

Thus, it was highly recommended that tiger grass farmers in this locality should be reorganized and a comprehensive plan for the tiger grass industry including soft broom processing be prepared. Mature tiger grass technologies were also recommended to be introduced, validated and transferred in the area.