MANGOES from the island province of Guimaras will soon find a place in the markets of Australia and in several countries in the European Union in 2017.
Reelected Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin said the mango exports to Australia is being prepared by the Provincial Government and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to break the Australian market.
Last April 15 to 16, European Union Ambassador Franz Jessen together with the Romanian Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Mihai Sion and German Deputy Ambassador Michael Hasper went to Guimaras Island to have a taste of the world famous mangoes and celebrate with the local people their yearly Manggahan Festival.
Gumarin said the EU diplomats met with local mango industry stakeholders and saw the potential of the island’s premier product to break in the international markets including Europe "by way of adherence to intellectual property rights and geographical indication (GI) standards."
The governor said they are going to submit the compliance to the Code of Practice by September 2016 that will also cover the phytosanitary procedures in order to achieve the GI seal.
Provincial Agriculture Officer Ronnie Morente said the local mango producers are ready and able to export their products to other countries. The island province has more than 6,000 hectares devoted to mangoes with more than 100,000 fruit bearing trees.
Mango plantations and orchards are dominant in the towns of Buenavista and Nueva Valencia. Backyard plantations are mostly in the towns of Jordan, San Lorenzo and Sibunag.
Morente said this year, mango fruit production reach more than 11,000 metric tons as the summer season reaches its limit by the month of June.
Income from fresh mangoes is estimated to be more than P500 million this year but processing and value added system may add more income to the mango producers.
The province of Guimaras is celebrating its 23rd Manggahan Festival and the 24th Guimaras provincehood for seven months starting April 1 until May 22, 2016.
The celebration covers the 3rd Manggahan sa Kabanwahan on April 1 until May 1 with a grand caravan on April 1; sports festival on April 1 to May 22; Manggahan sa San Lorenzo on April 2 to 3; Manggahan sa Sibunag on April 9-10; Manggahan sa Jordan on April 16-17; Manggahan sa Nueva Valencia on April 23-24 and Manggahan sa Buenavista on April 28 to May 1.
The provincial Manggahan Festival opened May 12 at the provincial capitol grounds until May 22 with an opening salvo and program. Other activities followed including the search for Mutya ng Guimaras set on May 20 and the Manggahan Bike Festival on May 21 to 22.