A DEPARTMENT of Agriculture - Davao Region (DA-Davao) official said they plan to establish 1,500 hectares of durian plantations to address the durian production shortage.
“We are proposing a 1,500 hectares of expansion that are not only in Davao City but throughout the Davao Region,” Hermie Mayormita, Jr. DA-Davao regional focal for durian, said during AgriBiz Forum, Tuesday, April 18.
Mayormita said the 1,500-hectare durian plantation expansion plan will be one of the priorities of DA once their five-year development plan, slated for years 2024 to 2029 will be approved at the national level.
“What we are doing karon is nag-craft ang atong central office og (our central office crafted a) five-year na development plan in support sa atong (of our) export and expansion,” Mayormita said.
The P180 million plan also includes providing puyat durian seedlings to Davao farmers through cooperatives, which are already identified by the DA-Davao. It also includes reinvigoration of plantations to help farmers increase their durian production.
“Challenge nato karon is ang atong [durian] supply is dili pa ing-ato kadako as to compare nimo sa atong supply sa ubang nasud sa Thailand (Our challenge is our durian supplies are not enough compared to what Thailand is producing),” Mayormita said.
“[Kay] ang atong production sa durian diri, limited man gyud siya... less than 50 percent exported sa China, so karon atong paningkamotan na maincrease ang production (Our production here is very limited and we export less than 50 percent to China, so we really do our best to increase production),” Mayormita added.
Notably, the Department of Agriculture exported 28 metric tons of durian to China on April 6 by plane, a part of a $2 billion fruit export deal through the DA secretary and current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s current state visit to China last January. ICE