AMID calls to promote cooperativism as a vehicle for peace in Mindanao, the banana cooperative sector is also waging its own battle that it says would determine the economic survival of its members.

"Banana cooperatives are being threatened; NGOs (non-government organizations) that have nothing to do with the industry are killing us with their insistence to ban the aerial spraying of low-dose pesticide in plantations," said Rene Dalayon, president of the Federation of Banana Cooperatives (Fedco), an umbrella organization of agrarian reform beneficiaries in the neighboring Davao Region.

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Dalayon and 50 other banana farmers were in Cagayan de Oro last Thursday to attend the 1st Mindanao Cooperative Peace Forum, whose goal is to bring cooperatives not only into the forefront of development but also in the attainment of peace in the island.

"We attended this forum because we want to be part in peace-building. At the same time, we want to air a very serious concern that threatens our livelihood, our very own existence," said Dalayon.

Dalayon is referring to various moves aimed at banning the aerial application of pesticides in the air. The National Task Force Against Aerial Spraying (NTFAAS), a group composed of environmentalists, is lobbying it in Malacañang, and at least two measure seeking aerial spray ban are pending in Congress.

Reynante Bangoy, chairman of "Save Our Sagingan" (SOS), said the ban would mean the end of the banana industry.

"Between ground spraying and aerial spraying, the latter has been scientifically proven to be efficient in controlling the sigatoka disease, the number one destroyer of bananas. If we resort to ground spraying, which the industry is ill prepared financially, our local bananas will suffer in the international market," said Bangoy.

At stake, he said, are the livelihood of over 200,000 workers of banana cooperatives and independent growers.

Engr. Humber Cabunoc, a provincial agriculturist in Davao del Norte, maintained that the aerial application of pesticides in banana plantations follow the guidelines set forth by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority.

"The chemical composition of the spray is just one percent, and could never be hazardous to anyone. The four-decade presence of banana plantations in Davao del Norte will attest to this," Cabunoc said. (JPN)