DAVAO CITY—The absence of dedicated research units and farmers’ lack of access to affordable loans have delayed the development of the country’s farm sector, according to the chief of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA).
Except for the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), other crops subsectors have no dedicated research centers, PBGEA President Stephen A. Antig told the BusinessMirror.
Even then, the IRRI caters to the interest of all Asian countries involved in rice-production development although it is based in Los Baños, Laguna. SEAFDEC is also an Asian-based center based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Antig said the lack of a dedicated research unit is deeply felt in the banana industry, for instance, where the dreaded Panama disease, or the Fusarium wilt, continues to wreak havoc on the industry for more than half a century.
It was only in recent months when a government research center in Taiwan came out with two disease-resistant varieties of Cavendish bananas that are acceptable for commercial production.
“It looks like research has been neglected as a crucial policy move for agriculture,” he said.
Proposals
The PBGEA said it had asked former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to consider the proposal of former Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban for the setup of a national banana research institute. This is expected to allow the industry to address banana diseases.
The institute is also envisioned to help the Philippines surpass other global competitors, mostly from South America.
Private growers in Davao had also pushed for the creation of an institute for banana back in 2010. The Cavendish banana, one of the top farm exports of Mindanao, is grown extensively in Davao del Norte and 16 other provinces in the region.
Lizabel Holganza, chairman of the 2010 Davao Trade Exposition, experts in the academe and in business are keen on putting up the institute to further boost the country’s bid to become the top global supplier of bananas.
The proposed institute would mostly focus on conducting research and providing documentation about banana. It is also envisioned to train workers in the multimillion industry.
The regional agriculture office here said the institute would use the Philippine Rubber Institute as its model, and would conduct studies on varieties of banana, production, tissue culture and diseases. But like most other ventures, the institute would need government support.
“We need the initial funding to start everything, but we would show the government that it would be sustainable,” said Carlos Mendoza, a former Department of Agriculture director.
Quoting industry leaders, Mendoza said planters and plantation owners have pledged a certain portion of their proceeds from the production, “promising to give 50 cents per box.”
Financing
Apart from the lack of technical expertise, Antig said farmers also have to contend with their inability to secure bank loans.
“If you think that banks would have special considerations to farmers and other small borrowers, you are wrong,”
he said. “It’s always about collateral, in whatever form.”
Citing his sources, Antig said banks “would rather pay the fines for not complying with the Agri-Agra law than to go into what they believe as a risky lending venture.”
“Let us wait how the Duterte administration would fulfill its campaign promise that it would compel the government financial institutions to allocate P1 billion for each region,” he said.