Monday, February 25, 2008 Direct mango shipment to China looms By Bong S. Sarmiento
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is expecting regular direct mango shipment to China this year after that foreign country recently approved a disinfection technology developed in tandem with its research institutions, a senior regional Agriculture official said recently.
Reynaldo Lumaque, DA-Central Mindanao high value crop coordinator, said the region was chosen as beneficiary of a P1.5 million grant for the establishment of an Extended Hot Water Treatment Facility.
"With that facility [hopefully] in place within the year [with the approval of the design], mango producers in the area can directly ship to China," he said.
Once in place, he added that mango exporters would no longer sell the crop to traders in Hong Kong to enter China.
The Extended Hot Water Treatment technology was developed by the Bureau of Plant Industry and the University of the Philippines-Los Baños.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced earlier that China's approval of the technology signifies its acceptance of the Agriculture department's sanitary and phytosanitary measures for disinfection against fruit fly in mangoes.
The technology, he noted, will cut down the cost of exporting mangoes to China by at least P20 a kilo, thus spelling higher profits for Filipino exporters in the world's largest food market.
"This is a big step towards gaining direct market access for Philippine tropical fruits into China's highly lucrative $1-billion fruit market," Yap said.
Philippine mango exports to China in 2007 reached only 634.33 metric tons, which Yap expects to rise significantly starting this year as a result of Beijing's approval of the EWHT technology.
Lumaque said the facility will rise in General Santos City, the undisputed "Tuna Capital of the Philippines," which is the region's gateway to the world with its air and sea ports, and would be managed by the private sector.
Davao City in Southern Mindanao was also chosen to benefit from project funded by the Chinese government, he added.
"China wanted to buy our mangoes that is why they gave us the assistance," Lumaque said.
Presently, Central Mindanao has almost 20,000 hectares of mango plantations, including the newly planted in the last two to three years, Lumaque disclosed.
An extended hot water treatment facility would "minimize the possibility of mango fruit fly disease to spread in China once they arrive there," the official said.
The technology, however, is not as stringent as those preferred by Japan and the United States in allowing Philippine mangoes into their territory.
Lumaque said Japan and the United States accept mangoes that have undergone vapor heat treatment method.
Vapor heat treatment facility, however, is costly since it can be constructed at a cost of at least P50 million.
With a vapor heat treatment, it is also more costly to the farmers since they have to pay P25 per kilo for the mangoes that will undergo the treatment, he said.
Lumaque said mango is among the high value crops that the regional Agriculture department is pushing due to their potentials in the international market.
The others are pineapple, banana and vegetables, he said.
Abusama Alid, DA-Central Mindanao regional director, said they will seek more funds next year so that the focus on high value crop production will be sustained, especially the mangoes.
Lumaque said quality is essential for mangoes to successfully penetrate the international market.
