The Philippines had already earned almost P500 million from the export of fresh durian to China since early this year, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“For durian, we already earned half a billion [pesos], for this endeavor. This is only for one market,” DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Gerald Glenn F. Panganiban disclosed at a news briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.
The country started exporting durian to China last April as part of the country’s $2-billion fruit export deal with Beijing.
Local durian growers are expected to earn $260 million or P14.3 billion from the said deal.
Panganiban said the country is expected to earn additional revenues from the export of high-value crops from the new deals, which were signed by administration of President and concurrent DA Secretary Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Among the said new deals were for the resumption of export of fresh mangoes to Australia last month.
The country temporarily stopped shipping mangoes to Australia in 2013.
Another new fruit-related deal, Panganiban said, was for the export of fresh avocado to South Korea, which started last Saturday.
“That was negotiated for 14 years, and it took really, the President, the push of the President, of course, the efforts of our department,” the BPI head said.
Panganiban added they are targeting to develop new markets for the country’s other high-value crops such as bananas, pineapples, and coconuts.
“Hopefully, this budget season, we will get additional [funding] for our programs for high-value crops so we can support [their export] once new markets open overseas,” Panganiban said partly in Filipino.
Image credits: Manuel Cayon
