To comply with the bilateral agreement of exporting fresh durian to China, Davao City plans to establish a durian development plan targeting private landowners in the city.
“Daghan kaayo ta’g mga private landowners nga dagko kaayo og mga yuta nga walay mga sulod (We have a lot of private landowners in the city which own huge but idle lands),” Davao City Councilor Marissa Abella, chairperson of the committee on agriculture, aquaculture, and food, said in an ambush interview on March 7, 2023, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
She added that aside from planting durian, private landowners and farmers can also plant cash crops like paminta, ube, and banana.
“I-diversify pud nato, dili pud pwede nga durian tanan kay what if naay big supply na (We need to plant diverse crops so that if there’s a lot of supply they still have other sources of income),” she said.
Abella, however, admitted that crafting the plan would need enough funds to be executed.
“We really need the funding. Then dili lang man gud ni siya about the production (It's not only durian production), but there should also be a centralized nursery to come up with good quality seedlings para dili ta ma-reject (so that it will not be rejected), tapos naa pa’y (and then) training for the farmers and monitoring,” she said.
Abella said they have talked with Senator Imee Marcos, who visited the city on March 5, to help and support the city in the expansion of the production of durian and other tropical fruits.
She added that aside from the support of Sen. Marcos, they also need to outsource funds from other government agencies like the Department of Agriculture, and the Environment and Natural Resources.