GUIMARAS – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has brought in investors to market abroad the sweet mangoes from this island province.
Guimaras’ mango growers met with Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol and the investors on Wednesday.
The investors could help revitalize the mango industry of Guimaras, said Provincial Agriculturist Ronnie Morante.
One of them is Archie Po, the owner of the Singapore-based Lion Air Company.
Po has 727 cargo planes that can transport up to 20 metric tons of mangoes every other day.
Aside from Po, technical experts on mango rejuvenation also visited Guimaras.
Piñol said they can help farmers rehabilitate old mango trees and those sprayed with chemical pesticides.
Once rejuvenated, a tree can have an average yield of 1.5 metric tons from the current average of 500 kilograms, he added.
Morante said the investors and the DA will provide support to the mango growers by establishing a packing plant area of the Bureau of Plant Industry in Guimaras.
The area will also serve as a buying station where farmers can bring their mango produce for sorting, treatment, packaging and marketing, he added.
The growers will also be provided with technology and appropriate training.
Guimaras has a total of 7,290 mango growers. The mango population is now at 274, 822 trees but they are not fully maximized due to the limited resources of growers, especially on financing.
Only about 40 percent of the mango trees are induced, Morante said.
With the help of the DA and investors, it could reach up to 70 to 80 percent.
Morante said the highest production in the province was only 12,732 metric tons. If maximized, it can reach up to 20,000 metric tons.
“There will be more contractors who will go back and invest because they know there is a market,” he stressed. (With PNA/PN)
