Thursday, September 27, 2007 Editorial: Surviving the aerial spray ban
THE Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) has warned of "dire economic effects" that the ban on aerial spraying of banana plantations will have on the industry.
The warning came on the heels of a recent ruling by Judge Renato Fuentes of Regional Trial Court Branch 17 upholding the constitutionality of the Davao City Council-imposed ban.
PBGEA president Stephen Antig, who said in a press interview that the banana group would appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals, claimed that a substantial amount of money will be lost as a result of the ban.
While he did not cite figures, he did say that the worst-case scenario would see the demise of the industry as predicted by its players.
Aerial spraying was resorted to by banana growers as the fastest way to apply chemicals over the widest area possible in their campaign to avert attacks by the dreaded Black Sigatoka disease, which can wipe out whole banana plantations in no time at all.
The ban was triggered by complaints from residents living in the periphery of the plantations that the chemicals had proved to be hazardous to the health of people who had been hit by sprayed chemicals drifting towards their homes.
They cited skin irritations among other maladies arising from inhalation of the fine mist of sprayed chemicals that wanton breezes occasionally wafted towards populated areas.
But the ban, if it is sustained by the Court of Appeals, will not cause the demise of the banana industry. It may, however, mean higher cost of production should the plantations be forced to use more manpower for the manual application of the chemicals by way of hand-carried sprayers, or the reduction in areas planted to banana due to the cutting down of banana stalks to allow more space for use by motorized chemical sprayers. Any such loss may be compensated through an increase in the price of bananas if such increase proves tenable.
Be that as it may, the corporate banana industry is here to stay, notwithstanding the aerial spray ban that in the end will turn out to be a minor irritant that corporate geniuses will eventually overcome.
