Mayors back Capitol's banana plantation plan

The plan of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to launch a banana plantation in the province as additional means of livelihood for farmers got the support of mayors in the municipalities.

Carmen mayor Virginio Villamor said the town council supports Garcia's plan because they believe the pursuit would make for additional income to farmers with the noticed big demand for bananas not only in Cebu but also in other provinces in the country.

Dalaguete mayor Ronald Allan Cesante, also the president of the Cebu Municipal Mayors League, said they would support Garcia in the implementation of the program.

Garcia announced she already had directed the provincial agriculture office to prepare the program for the launching of the project, through the expansion of the production area for "lakatan" (a variety of banana) in Cebu province.

Records at the provincial agriculture office showed that a total of 9,192 hectares of land were planted with banana in 2004. It was also noted that there was an average production of 6.2 tons per hectare in 2004 and 56,990.4 tons of banana supply were generated in the same year.

But despite the figures, a total of 381,794.21 tons demand for banana, in Cebu alone, was registered on the same year.

Agriculture officials pointed out "banana is still the most important fruit crop in the country. It is one of the top 10 export-earning commodities for Japan and Korea. It contributes $200 million annually mainly through fresh exports." - Jose P. Sollano