Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Trade department takes side of banana firms
By Barbara Carla R. Quiero
DAVAO CITY -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Southern Mindanao said the banning of aerial spray as an agricultural practice will kill the banana industry in Davao City.
A position paper released on September 8, signed by DTI Regional Director Merly M. Cruz, said the banning of aerial spraying in a 5,000-hectare banana plantation would have a "disastrous effect to the banana industry's growing export."
It added that the banana industry spends an average of P720 million annually for salaries of some 12,000 directly hired workers. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people are also indirectly linked to the industry for support services that include stevedoring, trucking, packaging, and banking.
In an earlier presentation made by the Philippine Banana Growers Exporters Association (PBGEA), total direct and indirect employment generated by the banana plantations in the city was placed at 2,000.
Socio-econ blow
"The ban would also deal a blow on the socio-economic development of barangays hosting banana plantations and of the city in general. The ban would greatly affect the employment, business climate, infrastructure, and tax collections in these barangays," the DTI said.
According to DTI, banana is the number one export of the region. It accounts for 75 percent of total export revenue with Japan as the major market.
The association reported that in 2005, total foreign market exports reached 1,976,698,295 metric tons valued at $352,655,767. This, however, covers the whole region.
"Against giant plantations in Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur, the area covered by cavendish bananas in the city is but a pittance. It is the cavendish banana plantations that utilize aerial spraying," the group said.
In the same presentation of the group, cavendish banana plantations account for a mere three percent of the total plantation area in the city with cardava banana plantations, which do not use aerial spray, accounting for the bulk of the plantation areas.
The DTI said: "The banana industry is one of the city's biggest dollar earners and the biggest employer." However, it was not differentiated how much of this is the cavendish banana contribution.
The DTI further contended that if aerial spraying is banned, entry of new players is discouraged.
It said the non-entry of new players is a lost opportunity for the city and a big drawback in the employment generation effort.
Positioning
"Banning aerial spraying in the Davao City area but allowing its continued use in areas outside Davao City would have a negative effect in the positioning of the city as an investment friendly destination," DTI said.
The DTI claimed that aerial spraying is an "internationally accepted good agricultural practice" in the region, being an efficient and effective method of fungicide application to control Sigatoka Disease -- a leaf spot disease of banana that cuts a tree's fruit production in half.
The Department of Health-Southern Mindanao, in its position paper signed by Regional Director Paulyn B. Rosell-Ubial, said there is no scientific evidence linking aerial spraying in banana plantations to adverse ill effects in nearby communities.
Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, however, is adamant in his stand against aerial spraying, giving more weight to the health of the people than the promised investments of big players.
Duterte said that if banana plantations pack up and leave because of the proposed ban, then its "good riddance." (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(September 13, 2006 issue)
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