The country’s banana production in 2017 expanded by almost 3 percent to 9.166 million metric tons, from the 2016 record of 8.903 MMT, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Banana output in the fourth quarter of 2017 alone, according to the PSA, grew by 3.15 percent to 2.409 MMT, from the 2.335 MMT registered in the same period in 2016.
“Banana production was 3.15 percent more this year because of increases in area and number of bearing hills harvested from the plantation farms in Northern Mindanao in response to higher demand for the product,” the PSA said.
“Additional expansion areas from corporate farms in Soccsksargen were likewise noted,” it added.
The PSA noted there were also bigger bunches developed in Cagayan Valley and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as a result of good weather conditions.
Pineapple farmers, according to the PSA, produced 2.671 MMT in 2017, 2.27 percent higher than the previous year’s 2.612 MMT.
During the October-to-December period, pineapple production reached 699,220 MT, 2.95 percent higher than the 679,170 MT recorded in the same period in 2016.
“In the case of pineapple, additional areas harvested from corporate farms in Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen led to the 2.95-percent increase in production,” the PSA said.
However, the country’s total mango production last year declined by almost 10 percent to 737,030 MT, from the 2016 record of 817,050 MT.
The mango subsector also recorded a 10.10-percent year-on-year contraction in terms of production in the fourth quarter of 2017. Mango output during the October-to-December period of 2017 reached 27,490 MT.
“Farmers in Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao were discouraged to conduct flower, induction activities because of intermittent rains during the crop’s flowering stage,” the PSA said.