DAVAO CITY — The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, Inc. (PBGEA) is meeting next week with new Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, to discuss the implementation of the Banana Industry Development Road Map.
“On Aug. 22, we will be laying down some of the requests to the secretary, and hope those priorities will be granted and funded,” PBGEA Executive Director Stephen A. Antig said during this week’s Habi at Kape forum.
Completed in 2018 and signed by former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol in December, the industry plan aims to address the pressing concerns of banana farmers as well as identify new growth areas for the industry.
Mr. Antig said the road map was not finalized in time for inclusion in this year’s General Appropriations Act.
“Unfortunately, medyo nahuli na (it came a bit late) when it comes to budgeting (for 2019),” he said.
He added that the industry hopes that talks with Mr. Dar ensure funding for the plan under the 2020 national budget. The industry also hopes to explore the possibility of tapping any available funding from the Department of Agriculture (DA) this year.
“We are really hopeful that the roadmap will eventually take off from the ground, not so much for the big players but also for the small and medium size banana growers who are the ones who really need help,” he said.
PBGEA represents the industry’s large corporate growers.
One of the priority projects under the road map is the establishment of an institute for banana research.
“Medyo kulelat tayo (We are lagging behind), sad to say, the existing research facility of the government does not even have reagents,” he said, referring to substances used in chemical analysis.
The facility is expected to help address diseases as well as develop banana varieties other than Cavendish, the main export variety.
He said saba and cardava, both cooking bananas, are emerging export varieties.
Under the Philippine National Standard issued by the Bureau of Product Standards, Saba refers to the fruit known as Dippig in the northern part of the country, while Cardava, also referred to as Cadisnon, is bigger and “more popular” in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“A month ago, several buyers from all over the world were asking me for a supply of saban and cardaba. But there is a shortage… and one of the reasons identified is that there is no laboratory that produces tissue culture for saba and cardava,” Mr. Antig said.
Fresh bananas took up 7th place among the Philippines’ top export commodities in 2018 , with a value of $1.3 billion, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Mr. Antig said so far this year bananas were the 5th-largest export as of the first half with an export value of $984 million.
“It’s really a huge jump, and you can see in these figures alone that China is really the market to watch out for,” he said.
The industry will hold an international banana congress in October. — Maya M. Padillo
