TOP mango processor Justin Uy has urged the government to find ways to improve domestic mango production since the country is already lagging behind its neighbors in Southeast Asia.
“Other Asian countries are taking advantage of our short delivery. We can’t deliver to all the countries we built the market for because the growth of our mango supply has been stagnant,” said the Cebu-based businessman who owns Profood International Corp., which exports dried mangoes to 52 countries.
On the sidelines of the launching of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cebu’s Kapatid Mentor Me 3 program where he served as one of the speakers, Uy told reporters he met with Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Monday to discuss the sluggish state of mango production, which has placed the country at a disadvantageous position among its peers in Southeast Asia like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The Philippine Mango Growers Association, in a news report, said the national production has dropped from an average of over one million metric tons annually to only 400,000 MT in 2016.
The biggest challenge confronting the mango industry, Uy said, is the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program that discourages corporate growers. The law calls for the redistribution of land to small farmers and landless agricultural workers, which has resulted in low productivity of the land.
Second, he said outdated technology in mango production similarly yields low output. Uy calls for the government to strengthen its research and development programs for mango production.
Another factor is the damage caused by pests, resulting in poor quality of fruits and premature fruit drops. This year, mango farms in Zambales were attacked by the capsid bug and cecid fly, severely affecting production.
“The Philippines is still number one in the world in dried mangoes. But we were in number six before, and now probably in number eight for fresh mangoes,” he said.
India and China are the world’s top producers and exporters of mango.
To gather mango industry stakeholders in the Visayas, Uy said the Department of Agriculture will hold a mango congress in Cebu on Aug. 18. Last month, Piñol said the DA plans to craft a five-year masterplan for the local mango industry or the Philippine Mango Industry Development Roadmap. (JOG)