The decline in mango production in the first quarter has prompted a lawmaker to push for the crafting of policies that would revive the local mango sector.
Citing figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Deputy Speaker and Party-list Rep. Sharon S. Garin of Aambis-OWA noted that the production of mango dropped by 9.4 percent to 97,7000 metric tons in the first quarter, from 107,830 MT a year ago.
“The recent performance of the country’s mango industry is a call for the government to take action and help improve its standing by instituting far-reaching policies that would genuinely develop the national fruit’s productivity, marketability and viability,” Garin said in a statement.
She noted that mango is one of the country’s most important fruit crops in terms of export volume and value. Fresh and dried Philippine mango is widely distributed in the United States, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, China, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The lawmaker authored House Bill 3538, also known as the Philippine Mango Development Act, which aims to refresh and bolster the competitiveness of the Philippine Mango through lower production costs, decreased postharvest losses, modernized techniques and technologies, and international marketing strategies.
The bill calls for the formulation of the five-year Philippine Mango Framework for Development to be drafted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in consultation with the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Environment and Natural Resources, and Science and Technology (DOST), mango growers’ cooperatives and organizations, local government units, and the private sector.
The framework will serve as a guide to the formulation and implementation of plans, programs and projects for the production, marketing, processing and distribution of Philippine mango for food and commercial needs.
The DA and DTI will play an “active” role in the investment promotion, facilitation, market production and development of the mango industry. This includes setting up links between stakeholders of the mango industry and financial cooperatives, establishing reasonable and innovative investment incentives, and facilitating the participation of local growers and producers in local and international conferences, trade fairs and exhibits.
The role of research and development is also highlighted in the bill, encouraging state universities and colleges, with the participation of the DA and the DOST, to strengthen the conduct of research on mango, particularly on areas of crop improvement (development of new varieties), crop protection, harvesting, postharvest handling and supply-chain analysis.
As the main agency in charge of implementing the bill, the DA is also mandated to ensure proper trading by establishing and enforcing standards in grading, sampling and inspection, tests and analysis, specifications, nomenclature, units of measurement, packaging, preservation, conservation and transportation of Philippine mangoes.
If enacted into law, an interagency committee to be chaired and vice chaired by representatives from the DA and the DTI shall be created.
“While we still can, we must prune all obstacles and challenges, which threaten to rot the mango industry unto its eventual downfall,” Garin said.
The bill is pending with the Committee on Agriculture and Food since September 2016.
Image credits: nonie Reyes