Monday, October 13, 2008 Sugarcane leads commercial crop production in C. Mindanao
SUGARCANE emerged as the top commercial agricultural crop grown in Central Mindanao in the first half of the year, the regional office of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said in its latest economic situationer report.
Ma. Lourdes D. Lim, Neda regional director, said that except mango and asparagus, the six commercial crops propagated in the region posted production increased compared to the first semester of 2007.
The other major commercial agricultural products found in Central Mindanao are sugarcane, pineapple, banana, coconut, rubber and abaca.
"Almost all the region's commercial crops have increased production which can be attributed to the sufficient rainfall during the period [January to June 2008]," Lim noted.
Sugarcane production surged by 62 percent to 659,126 metric tons in the first six months of the year from 407,642 MT in the same period last year, the Neda report said.
In second place was pineapple, growing by 32 percent to 447,645 MT from 338,157 MT, which was attributed to plantation expansion in T'boli and Surallah in South Cotabato province and Malungon in Sarangani.
Multinational fruit giant Dole Philippines Inc., based in the town of Polomolok in South Cotabato is driving the growth of the pineapple industry since its venture in the 1960s.
Canned pineapple product recorded export sales of $57.2 million in the first half of the year, according to a separate data from the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc.-Central Mindanao.
An eight percent growth was recorded for banana with additional areas harvested with Cavendish, lacatan, saba and bongulan varieties in the six months to June 2008, the economic report said.
Banana harvest reached 495,171 MT compared to 457,635 MT in the same period last year.
A five percent growth was recorded for abaca, coconut and rubber in the first half of 2008.
On the other hand, mango production declined by seven percent to 42,652 MT from 45,961 MT in the first half of last year.
"Mango production was affected by frequent rainfall during the fruiting stage," the report said.
A drop of about five percent was also observed in the production of asparagus because some farmers in Sarangani province shifted to papaya and corn production, it added.
Asparagus production plunged to 7,538 MT from 7,333 MT in the first half of 2007, Neda data showed.
Central Mindanao, which has vast fertile and undeveloped lands for agricultural production, covers the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato. (BSS)
