Guimaras mango industry ripe for redevelopment

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture plans to revive the mango industry in Guimaras by establishing a good market and a reasonable price given the commodity’s  high export potential.

 In a recent stakeholders meeting, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol brought experts to equip farmers on how to rehabilitate old mango trees and those trees which are oversprayed with chemical pesticides.

The program is expected to result in higher yield from the existing average of 500 kilograms to 1.5 metric tons per tree once rejuvenated.

 Provincial agriculturist Ronnie Morante said Guimaras mango production is slowly declining over the past year, exacerbated by the lower farm gate prices.

 “Majority of the mango growers lack the financial resources, have no access to quality bagging materials, and have difficulty in curbing pests and diseases incidents,” Morante said.

 Piñol urged businessman Archibald Po, owner of LionAir Inc., to invest in Guimaras mangoes by marketing it to other parts in Asia, Europe, United States and even Russia.

 “Logistics is our major concern when we export our agri products to other countries. He owns a 727 cargo plane that can easily transport up to 20 MT of Guimaras mangoes abroad every other day. Farmers need to have access to a steady market and fair pricing. We want to correct the system by enabling farmers’ profitability,” Piñol said.

 A marketing agreement will be inked soon after the series of discussions with local government units and mango growers in Guimaras.

 “The anomalous law of supply and demand in the country prevails since the supply is being controlled by the traders and middlemen,” he said.

 Piñol also encouraged the industry stakeholders to adopt new technologies in the production and rehabilitation of old mango trees to increase production.

 National mango production has been declining from 850,000 MT to 550,000 MT over the past three years. This is expected to further go down to 500,000 MT this year.

 The Philippine Mango Exporters Foundation Inc., however, expects to  see higher exports next year as the expected 500,000 MT production  will likely increase by up to 15 percent.

 Latest data showed that production of mango decreased three percent to 528,490 MT amid lesser fruits harvested due to the occurrence of rain showers and adverse effect of cecid fly during flowering stage.

 Ilocos Region was the top mango producer, accounting for  21 percent of the total production. Zamboanga Peninsula and Central Visayas came next with 11 percent and nine percent, respectively.

 Carabao mango made up 80 percent of the country’s total mango production.