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Monday, April 21, 2003
Mango industry ailing
ASIDE from having excess supply, the mango industry is also suffering from lack of government subsidy and farm to market roads.
Executive Vice President of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCCI) Sofronio Jucutan, speaking as a mango farmer said despite these problems, mango produced from the country remains to be the best in the world. But, according to Jucutan, the farmers are doubtful they could bear the difficulties much longer.
Jucutan said unlike its neighboring Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, Filipino farmers are lacking subsidies in the form of free pesticides, fertilizers, and technological know how provided by the government.
"In the case of the mango growers, it is a WTO (World Trade Organization) ruling that decided government subsidies not to get into the picture. And we want that policy to be lifted," he said.
Farmers in the country, Jucutan said, are still sticking to the age-old agricultural practices, which is the result of the absence of research and development initiatives from the government and concerned agencies.
The unavailability of farm-to-market roads also spells disaster to the perishable goods such as the mangoes and other crops.
"Meron nga sanang maganda ang farm to market roads pero masyado namang mahal ang lupa pag binili naming mga farmers, so, wala ring mangyayari (There are farmlands with good roads but the land prices are very expensive. We cannnot afford it, so nothing happens)," Jucutan shared.
A study conducted by Mindanao Business Council (MBC) recently revealed that buying stations, processing plants, ports and other vital installations used to transport and ship agricultural produce are generally very far and distant from farmlands, which makes it an additional burden to farmers who would want to sell their produce in the market. This has also resulted to high selling prices of the crops in the market, compared to the imported products.
The distressed state of the mango industry, and the ways on which the government could help, will be among the topics to be brought up by the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCCII) during President Gloria Arroyo's inauguration of the Ma-a bridge tomorrow. CEU
(April 21, 2003 issue)
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