1. Although the cultivation of abaca plants is being currently practiced on large scale in Philippines, Ecuador, and other adjacent areas where its plantation is done in the humid regions having an altitude upto 500 m, the studies have also revealed that its cultivation could be extended upto 1,000 m latitudinal extent which is suggestive of the fact that there is a great scope for expanding the culti­vation practice of abaca in other neighboring regions or regions with similar climatic conditions so that its production could be increased to the extent that the gap between the demand and supply will be minimized or nullified.

2. Abaca plants in Philippines are generally propagated from vegetative propagules or seeds in a traditional way (without any modern agricultural practice). However, the recent studies have revealed that the use of fertilizers leads to enhancement of growth in abaca thereby paving way for higher fiber yields. Moreover, FIDA (Philippines) is also providing the micropropagated plant material for successful cultivation of abaca.

3. Although about 200 varieties of abaca are known to exist, only a few varieties are cultivated on commercial scale because most of the varieties are either low — yielding or yield fiber of inferior quality. Now, NARC (National Abaca Research Centre, Philippines) and FIDA have been and are promoting research programs so that better (high yielding and good fiber quality) varieties will be introduced to overcome the problem.

4. Keeping in view the advantages of abaca fibers and the processed products over synthetic ones, there is a great expectation that there will be a continuous increase in its demand in the national and international markets. To manage the increasing demands, the most important thing is to increase the supplies but during the last few years, the trend in abaca supply or production has been found otherwise. The main reasons have been found to be the low-income generation from the abaca cultivation, burdensome fiber extraction, and the natural calamities like typhoon or disease-incidence. As far as the income generation (for farmers) and fiber extraction is concerned, the Philippine government as well as the agencies like FIDA and NARC has a role to play. For the control of disease-incidence, differ­ent conventional plant breeding approaches coupled with the modern biotechno­logical techniques should be employed to produce disease-resistant varieties as has been recently initiated in two abaca cultivars Tangongon (TG) and Tinawagan Pula (TP) to produce virus-resistant (BBTV and BBrMV) abaca cultivars.

5. Abaca fiber is considered as the strongest natural fiber and known for its exceptional mechanical strength, durability, and long fiber length. It is because of these properties that it has become an important raw material for various industries like paper and pulp industry, furnishing industry, textile industry, automobile industry, etc. where it is being used in the production of many industrial or domestic products like cordage products, fabrics, speciality papers, bank notes, carpets, rugs, baskets, fiber boards, insulators (for wires/ cables), and automobile components. It is also used as a fuel (Musafel). As per the estimates, paper and pulp industry consumes maximum share (about 80 %) of the fiber production. With the advancement in technology, currently the pro­duction of abaca-reinforced polymers is gaining more importance due to their superiority over pure fibers and the synthetic counterparts like nylon, rayon, etc. Keeping in view the above mentioned applications of abaca fibers in vari­ous industrial or domestic activities, it has a great potential to be used as an important renewable bio-resource.

6. The production of abaca fibers or its composites is eco-friendly, energy — efficient, and biodegradable, thereby posing no major threat to the environ­ment. Moreover, abaca plantations have been used to control soil erosion and to promote biodiversity rehabilitation. Wastes produced from abaca plant find its use as organic fertilizer to maintain the fertility of soil.

In conclusion, it can be stated that the abaca industry holds a great scope in national as well as international markets providing employment or economic bene­fits to a large number of people (including farmers, traders, exporters, manufactur­ers, etc.). The production of high-quality fibers by industrial units creates multiple job opportunities and increase in the income of farmers and laborers. Being renew­able natural fiber and superior in qualities, its market demand is expected to strengthen as far as its industrial applications are concerned. Also, the use of abaca fiber composites for automotive and other industrial applications carries ecological as well as economic benefits, thereby leading to sustainable development program. As abaca is mainly grown in Philippines and other adjacent areas, both government and the private sector should coordinate and extend its support in developing the abaca markets at the domestic and international level so that its unfulfilled potential will be attained in future.