Dr. Edna Anit of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) provided an overview of the minor tropical fruit industry in the Philippines. Dr. Anit is currently the head of the minor tropical fruits research in PCAARRD.
The area of minor tropical fruit production is miniscule compared to major fruits like banana (450,000 ha), mango (190,000 ha) and pineapple (59,000 ha). Langsat has the widest area with 21,000 ha, followed by durian with 19,000 ha, jackfruit with 14,000 ha, mandarin with 9,300 ha, and watermelon with 6,700 ha. The Philippines considers watermelon as a minor fruit.
The case is similar for the annual production values, with major fruits comprising the bulk of the harvest volume. Banana produced annually is 9.1M metric tons, followed by pineapple with 2.2M metric tons, and mango with 825,000 metric tons. For minor fruits, watermelon has the highest volume produced with 110,000 metric tons, followed by durian with 77,500 metric tons, langsat with 49,500 metric tons, jackfruit with 48,400 metric tons, and pummelo with 33,400 metric tons.
While the Philippines has a rich soil and appropriate climate, rich crop diversity, and available technology, minor tropical fruit industry does not flourish because of the lack of growers. Most are grown in backyards and small areas. There is also limited access to good planting material and R&D activities, poor adoption of technology, lack of production standards, and incidence of pests and diseases.
Do you happen to have a graphic representation of the major fruits production? Would appreciate a copy.
THANKS!
Would you mind sending ecopies of the International Minor Fruits Network to my email address at no cost, hopefully? Thanks.