Innovate to stay alive, banana industry told

LOS BANOS, Laguna ,Philippines  – “Innovate to stay alive in the competitive banana industry.”

Thus University of the Philippines Mindanao (UP Min) professor Dr. Larry Digal advised small-scale banana farmers to weather the exigencies of the industry.

“This could mean going organic in their production in order to achieve increased market value of their produce,” he said. Organically grown bananas are 15 percent more expensive than the traditionally grown ones, he added.

Dr. Digal, UP Mindanao’s research director who is a value chain expert, called for innovation in the local banana industry in a professional paper titled “Development Options in Enhancing the Performance of the Philippine Cavendish Banana Chain”.

He discussed the industry’s options at the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) of the UP Los Banos-based, government-hosted Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA).

Dr. Digal’s professional paper presented at the ADSS, a weekly (every Tuesday) forum sponsored by the center, was his lecture for the SEARCA professorial chair, a recognition awarded to selected academic staff of the UP System in disciplines under the broad themes of agricultural competitiveness and natural resources management.

“The key to competitiveness of the Cavendish banana is innovation,” stressed the UP Mindanao scientist. “Such competitiveness would be even more likely achieved by making the participation of small-scale producers profitable and equitable through an integrated package covering four options.”

The options are: improve the price of banana; improve productivity; reduce cost of production and marketing; and address policy and institutional issues.

Improvement of price entails that farmers need to aim for higher quality produce (for example, organically grown bananas) so that its market value would increase.

To improve production, individual farming system is encouraged for higher income. Income per hectare in a cooperative farming system is smaller because farmers would still need to pay certain cooperative fees.

“Reducing the cost of production and marketing would naturally yield greater profit,” Dr. Digal further said. However, this may also mean lowering labor cost, whose implications on Southern Mindanao’s poverty incidence are yet to be explored.

Moreover, policy issues, especially some of the provisions of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), should be addressed.

In recent years, the UP Mindanao professor noted, big changes have occurred in the agriculture-food system, including the banana industry, which beg the following question: “Will the vulnerable yet numerous small-scale producers of Cavendish banana be ‘in or out’ in the industry?”

The changes and trends, he said, include the expanding high-value market (export and modern retail, fast food chains); food processing becoming concentrated, vertically integrated and into contractual agreements; fragmenting farms in developing countries; and weakening institutions (governance, infrastructure, labor).

Southern Mindanao, particularly Davao, is the country’s main producer of Cavendish banana. The industry employs numerous poor locals and has contributed much to the region’s gross domestic product (GDP).

However, recently there has been a rise in the region’s poverty incidence, which has alarmed the industry and other concerned sectors. This has been attributed to decline in Cavendish banana production owing to the fragmentation of land and banning of aerial spraying, among many other factors.

Moreover, the small-scale producers lack the capacity to meet the high standards required by the market,” Dr. Digal averred.

To address the situation, he offered the four options: improve banana price, improve productivity, reduce cost of production and marketing, and address policy and institutional issues.

Finally, the UP Mindanao professor underscored the importance of involving the private sector as a prime mover in the integrated development interventions to give the country’s Cavendish banana industry a greater edge in the global market.