by Carmencita A. Carillo, Business World Online
A joint government-private sector initiative called Protect and Modernize the Philippine Banana Production Project has been launched to further boost the export sector in time for the economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The project focuses on strengthening research work to combat and control diseases such as fusarium wilt, also known as Panama Disease, which has been one of the major threats to the industry since 2011.
“The objective of the project is to establish laboratories and improve existing banana laboratories in order to increase their capacity to detect and manage banana diseases,” said Maria Lourdes D. Lim, director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region 11 and vice-chairperson of the Regional Development Council.
The campaign is led by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) in partnership with two of the biggest banana exporters — Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc., and Unifrutti Philippines, Inc. — along with the US-based Dana Foundation and international research institutes Plant Research International, SoilsCare Holding and Clear Detection.
DoST’s main role is to help banana producers comply with various laboratory certifications. The international partners, meanwhile, are to provide test kits.
Small and medium-scale banana growers, some of whom supply to the big exporters but do not have the financial capacity for research costs, are seen benefiting from the project.
The Mindanao Banana Farmers and Exporters Association reported that some small and medium-scale farmers have abandoned a collective total of about 3,000 hectares of banana plantations infested with the Panama Disease.
Nonetheless, the regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported that banana production in the Davao provinces increased by almost 12% to 762,040 metric tons (MT) in the third quarter of 2014 from 682,633.25 MT in the same period the previous year.
DA Region 11 Director Remelyn R. Recoter attributed this to the expansion of land planted to banana.
“This is a sign that banana industry has recovered from typhoon Pablo, which ravaged around 14,000 hectares of banana plantations in 2012,” Ms. Recoter said.
The DA has also allocated P102 million this year for setting up early detection systems against the Panama Disease, especially in small farms.
Davao del Norte remained the top producer of banana in the region with a harvest of 412,857.72 MT in 2014 while Compostela Valley recorded the highest increase in production at 79% from 79,370.93 MT in 2013 to 142,142.58 MT last year.
The Philippine Statistics Authority-Davao earlier reported an increase in the gross weight of exported bananas to 5.36 billion kilos in the second quarter of 2014 from 849.22 million kilos a year earlier.
Freight on board value also went up 50% to $355.68 million last year from $237.03 million in 2013.
NEDA’s Ms. Lim, however, admitted that prices of bananas in the international market have been low, particularly in China, due to oversupply. This in turn has been hurting small producers.
“Up to 95% of small banana growers export their products to China,” she said.
The export price to China dropped to as low as P100 per box during the fourth quarter of 2014 from an average of P250 from January to June.
Ms. Lim said they are pushing for growth in the processed banana sector using the saba(cardava) variety as an alternative to fresh Cavendish banana exports.
“The proposed four-year budget allocation for the saba development program is an opportunity for farmers and agricultural businesses as it aims to provide research and development funding, postharvest facilities and marketing services for the industry,” she said.
Source: Business World Online