Monday, May 07, 2007 Mango expansion eyed in Mindanao
* In the Soccsksargen region, DA aims to develop 2,000 hectares more for mango
WITH the addition of Guam and Hawaii as export destination for Philippine mangoes, the Department of Agriculture is targeting to open this year new plantations totaling 11,270 hectares, a top agriculture official said.
Agriculture Undersecretary Salvador S. Salacup said the bulk of the expansion target is focused in Mindanao at roughly 8,530 hectares or 75 percent of the national target.
"In the Soccsksargen region, the agency aims to develop an additional 2,000 hectares," he stressed.
Also known as Central Mindanao, the region covers the provinces of South and North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
Salacup urged farmers in Mindanao and investors elsewhere in the country to ride on the potentials of mango given the opening of new foreign markets.
The government's focus on mango expansion is in Mindanao due to its typhoon-free climate and fertile soils, he said.
"In the years ahead, we expect Soccsksargen and the rest of Mindanao to gradually increase their combined contribution to national mango production," Salacup said.
Last year, national mango production reached 919,000 metric tons worth P18.7 billion at current prices, while exports of fresh mangoes amounted to $24 million, department data showed.
Before Guam and Hawaii, export markets for the country's mangoes include the United States, Japan and Hong Kong.
But the export line in the Japanese market was nearly cut off after Japan discovered excessive chlorpyrifos residue in Philippine mangoes.
In April 2005, Japan eventually agreed to lift its 100% inspection requirement for mango products coming from the country.
Japan eased the inspection requirement as the country's mango exporters have met the standard for the maximum limit for chlorpyrifos residue.
In a letter addressed to the Bureau of Plant Industry, Tetsuya Ishii, Japan's Minister for Economic Affairs, cited the submission by the Philippine government of registered mango exporters who are now fully observing the manual on pesticide management for Philippine mango export as agreed between the Philippines and Japan in March 2005.
The BPI spearheaded the formulation of a manual to check and monitor pesticide residue on mango fruit export and ensure compliance with the prescribed maximum residue limit (MRL).
Aside from containing strategies preventing the possibility of having high pesticide residue, the manual also contains information needed to trace the flow of mango from the farm down to the exporter. The exporter and farm owner implement the program activities stated in the manual while the BPI monitors its implementation.
Agriculture department's data showed that the country has at least 155,235 hectares of mango plantations, grown in 78 out of the 81 provinces in the nation. There are 2.5 million mango growers in the country.
Two of the country's registered exporters of mango are from South Cotabato province. They are Dole Philippines, Inc. and Marsman Drysdale Foods Corporation.
Mango expansion in the province continues to be a major thrust of local government officials to develop the agribusiness potential of the area.
South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance Fuentes said that at least 25,000 grafted mangoes were distributed last year to farmers in the province's 10 towns and the component city of Koronadal.
The priority area for mango expansion is Tantangan, a town less than 30 minutes drive from Koronadal.
In 2005, Fuentes said that 25,640 mangoes seedlings were distributed to farmers on a plant-now, pay-later scheme. (BSS)
