DAVAO CITY—A new agreement reached by the respective Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and the US increased the chance of Mindanao fruits, including the mangoes of Davao del Sur, which already passed scrutiny of a visiting Australian inspection team in 2006, of entering the US.

The agreement was reached between Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap of the Philippines and Secretary Ed Schafer of the USDA, which tackled the cooperation of both countries on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

“This is important because of the difficulty of our fruits from Mindanao to enter the US market,” President Arroyo told a crowd in Digos City, Davao del Sur.

President Arroyo announced Tuesday the signing of the agreement during her visit to the US last week and said the mangoes from Davao del Sur have improved their chance of breaking into the US market, including the Australian market.

“With this agreement, it’s about time that your mangoes here enter the US,” she said.

In 2006  Ednar Carlos Dayanghirang, president of the Davao Region Mango Contractors Association (Daremca) and currently the executive director of the Mindanao Business Council (MinBC), said the Australian-commissioned study officially confirmed that the Davao del Sur mangoes were not affected by the pulp and seed weevil, one of the blights affecting mango, all throughout the length of the study.

The study was undertaken for Australia by Dr. Hernani Golez of the National Mango Research Center since May 2005 to conduct validation and confirmation tests of the absence of the weevil pest in the province. The test ended on December 15, 2006.

Australia commissioned the study in an apparent move to find additional mango supply for its domestic market. The study was funded by the Australian Agency for International Development.

Davao del Sur accounts for 70 percent of the mango production in the Davao Region. Davao del Sur and the rest of the country raise the Philippine Carabao Mango variety, and the export of mango is one of the country’s major exports, behind cavendish banana, pineapple and coconut.

The Davao region, though, constitutes only 20 percent of the entire mango supply in Metro Manila, with Luzon growers supplying 70 percent.

If Davao del Sur would finally break into the Australian market, it would follow the feat of the world-famous mango of Guimaras, Iloilo, that already carved its niche in the US market.

In the agreement between Yap and Schafer, there was also a consensus on issues of the agricultural market, institutional and rural development, access and application of biotechnology and other new technologies, and improved climate between entrepreneurs of both countries for agricultural trade and investment.

President Arroyo visited Digos City to inaugurate the P6-million facilities of the Digos Provincial Hospital, which include the new outpatient section and the 50-bed annex building. The hospital is on Lapu-Lapu Street of Digos City. 

She also installed Gov. Douglas Cagas as the new chairman of the Davao Regional Peace and Order Council, succeeding Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who resigned the post last year.

President Arroyo said the agreement would help the country tide over the difficult times, touched off by “the high price of food and fuel that is affecting everyone around the globe, particularly the poor.”

“At every meeting during the trip to the US, we worked to help secure additional funding and support for stabilizing prices,” she said.

President Arroyo added that the discussions with US authorities also involved finding ways “to help additional funding and decrease our reliance on oil.”

President Arroyo said, meantime, that one of the US business groups, the Target, has indicated its interest to increase its buying volume of the country’s natural fiber and dried grass, storage jars and accessories, which Target has been buying regularly.

“The more their interest to increase the volume because these raw materials were being sought out by its vendors,” she said.

“This means, that instead of allowing grasses to grow wild, you plant them well and export them,” she said.

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