The POT was facilitated by the Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas (DA7) through the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) was aimed to equip the NMT on the cacao technology to increase their yield and income.

In his message, Roman Dabalos, the Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer-Bohol (APCO-Bohol), encouraged the farmers to plant more cacao trees, as they (cacao) do not require tedious farm activities. He said that their barangay has vast areas for cacao plantation.

He also introduced the organization of the cacao growers in Bohol, which is the Association of Bohol Cacao Producers, Inc. (ABCAP)—a province-wide group consisting of cacao growers and processors. He encouraged them to join the association for a wider scope of opportunities, such as availment of farm inputs from cacao growing to processing and marketing.

Discussed topics on the first day, with speakers from the regional office, include Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) by Donald Joy Ejorpe from the Regulatory Division, cultural management practices of cacao by Deseada Dabalos of Research Division, and Rachel Ondras of the Soils Laboratory presented the importance of soil sampling and analysis.

The second day topics were on potential pests and diseases of cacao and integrated pest management discussed by Anton Domail of the Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC), while Christopher Barrete tackled and give tips on simple farm record-keeping.

Part of the topic was on Gender and Development (GAD) mainstreaming discussed by Rachelle Madrigal, giving deeper understanding on the importance of gender equality and equity within the programs, projects and activities (PAPs) of DA, covering the over-all aspects of development for both men and women.

Participants underwent hands-on experience on cacao pruning to improve growth and pod sleeving.