DAVAO City is known for its abundance of tropical fruits, particularly Kadayawan fruits like durian, mangosteen, rambutan, and lanzones that always fill the streets every annual harvest season in August.
But lately, the agricultural industry of these fruits is compromised as harvest becomes less and less throughout the years because of unpredictable weather patterns being experienced in Davao City.
Normally in a year, the dry season is from January to March, the flowering season is from April to July, and harvest is from August to September. This was the pattern farmers have been accustomed to for decades since the fruits rely on the balance of the dry and rainy seasons in order for the trees to bloom.
Edgardo Haspe, the head of the City Agriculturist Office (Cagro), explained that dry weather is vital for the trees to flower after a rainy period.
“Supposedly, the dry season will allow our fruits (trees) to be subject to stress. One of the ways they can be under stress is if they are deprived of water. Kung ma-stress sila, mamulak sila (If they are stressed, the trees will flower)," Haspe said.
However, beginning around three years ago, Haspe said they’ve noticed the weather becoming erratic and unpredictable. The frequent rainfall, even during months that are supposedly the dry season, affected the pattern and harvest of fruits.
“Erratic na siya. Dili gyod nato mahibawan kung kanusa na panahon o bulan mag init. Wala na gyod katong giingon nato sa una nga naa'y distinct time ang dry season (The seasons became erratic. We can no longer predict or know when the weather would dry up),” he said.
Looking into the available data, durian production in Davao City declined drastically over the past few years.
In 2018 and 2019, durian production was more than 40,000 metric tons (MT) based on the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) fruits situationer report. It dropped to 12,929.63 MT in 2021 and 9,611.47 MT in 2022 as per the data from Cagro.
This current situation now becomes a challenge for Davao City as one of the major durian producers in the country, especially after the Philippines committed to exporting around 54,000 MT of durian to China.
Haspe said production of mangosteen, lanzones, and rambutan also experience a similar decline in production as they share the same seasons with durian.
In 2022 alone, Davao City produced 2,558.86 MT of lanzones, 738.53 MT of rambutan, and 1,099.19 MT of mangosteen.
Despite this, there is still some harvest albeit small in volume compared to the years before but the time of harvest also became scattered and varied throughout farms in Davao City instead of simultaneously.
Haspe said some portions in Barangays Toril, Sibulan, and Baracatan were able to harvest small volumes of durian last year.
“Naa portions na medyo niinit og gamay, mga one to two weeks kaya nakabulak ang uban. Mao to last time naa bunga ilang durian (There were parts that had dry weather that lasted around one to two weeks. That’s why some farms were able to harvest small amounts),” he said.
For small-time farmers like Roberto Pangoy, who has a diversified farm in Barangay Lacson for cultivating durian, lanzones, and mangosteen among others, the changes in seasons took a toll on their livelihood.
"Daghan unta ma-harvest (last August to October) pero kay nausab ang panahon, mawala-wala lagi. Pero naa gihapon tagsa, naa gihapon ma-harvest pero dili gyod kaayo maingon na peak harvest siya (We could have harvested a lot last August to October but because the seasons changed, harvest became unstable. There were a few but we can’t really say it was a good or peak harvest)," Pangoy said.
He shared that their harvest dropped to three tons from the expected 12 tons they would usually get when weather conditions were still normal.
"Dala na unta to sa durian, lanzones og mangosteen pero wala gyod kaabot (It would have included durian, lanzones, and mangosteen but it was too few). Ang namunga ato is durian lang, dili pa gyod daghan. Ang lanzones og mangosteen, wala mi ka-harvest (We were only able to harvest small volumes of durian and none for lanzones and mangosteen),” he added.
In order to cope with the changes, Pangoy said farmers like him are starting to adjust their farming practices around the weather, like using more fertilizer to give a nutrient boost to improve quality and production despite the rain.
However, even using fertilizers proved to be challenging for small-time farmers since it’s also becoming more expensive for them to afford and buy regularly.
"Imbis na muhatag ka daghan nutrition, dili na lang. Sa isa ka tuig, ika-isa na lang mag hatag kay nag tipid naman sa gasto. Akong ihatag kay organic na lang. Kanang pang pa-enhance sa production, dako gyod kaayo ang fertilizer (We can’t afford to give them more fertilizers. I use organic materials instead but fertilizers would have been very helpful to enhance the production),” Pangoy said.
On the other hand, Cagro is planning to plant more trees and expand durian farms in Davao City to fill in the production and supply gaps. Haspe said production will slowly increase and stabilize as more trees will mature and bear fruit in the future despite the changing seasons.
"Hopefully in the next year, if ani gihapon (ang weather), daghan naman ta durian. So bahala hinay-hinay, ginagmay ang bunga, basta daghan ma-harvest (even if this unstable weather persist, we would still have a lot of durian. It’s okay if each tree won’t bear a lot of ruit, as long as we can harvest a lot in total)," Haspe said.
With this, the city hopes to have enough supply for both the export and local market as soon as possible.
The actual physical area for durian cultivation in Davao City is 3,500.10 hectares as of 2022, based on the data of Cagro, but the area harvested was only 1,429.43 hectares.
For 2023, Cagro aims to plant 20,000 durian seedlings. So far, the newly planted area covers 62.80 hectares but the end goal is to plant around a total of 100,000 trees in the next three to five years.
Haspe said they are taking advantage of the rainy weather as it is the most suitable time to plant seedlings. He added that Davao City still has a lot of space for durian cultivation, such as the upland areas of Calinan, Baguio, Toril, and Tugbok.
Cagro is also rehabilitating old and existing trees as well as conducting seminars, training, and assistance to empower farmers and help them get accredited to produce high-quality durian ready for export.
Still, Haspe said it would be preferable if the climate returned to its old pattern to normalize the production. In the meantime, Davao City most likely would have to import durian from its neighboring provinces to suffice the local market.
“Wala ta kabalo kung permanente ba ni siya, basig diay mausab na pud na mubalik ta sa panahon before (We don’t know if this would become permanent but maybe it would return to normal in the future). (For now), ang among effort is to improve the industry in Davao City, provided na i-allow sa environment. Kay force of nature gyod ang dahilan ngano dili sila kabunga karon (our efforts is to improve the fruit industry, provided the environment will allow it)” he said. ICM