THE operation of some 40 hectares of its cavendish banana plantation in Monkayo, Compostela Valley province by Dizon Farms, Inc. will be shut down following massive infestation caused by Fusarium Wilt, also called Panama disease.
Dizon Farms board secretary Madeline D. Marfori, who is also president of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, Inc. (PBGEA), said it has become too expensive for the company to continue treating the area. The cost of quarantine has initially come up to P3 million.
“Why should we continue putting up this big amount of money to quarantine the area and at the same time operate the farm? We may as well close the area,” she said.
However, they cannot immediately implement the closure out of consideration for the livelihood of 40 workers assigned to the area.
She said the onset of the disease has really threatened the industry, with corporate farms or plantation farms finding it too expensive to treat their areas, much more for the small banana farm growers.
She said without any concrete intervention, the industry will suffer tremendously.
“The corporate farms have their respective research and development arms but nobody takes care of the small farm growers,” she said, adding that without proper intervention, such as sanitation, the spread of the disease would be massive. Current figures indicate that the total number of hectares affected by the diseases has already reached 1,200.
“In our respective corporate social responsibility programs we do assist small farms adjacent to our plantations, but this is small compared to the bigger number that hardly get support,” she said.
During their talk with Vice President Jejomar Binay on Saturday (Nov. 19), banana growers asked for government’s immediate intervention even as Marfori reiterated for the establishment of a banana research institute that will handle the needs of the industry.
She said the intervention must be immediate since the disease spreads fast, especially during the rainy season.
Binay,who was in Davao City as guest at the PBGEA’s induction ceremony, said he would bring their concerns to the proper channels in Manila.
He assured members of the PBGEA of the Aquino administration’s support in developing and maintaining a globally competitive banana export industry and said he would relay to the President the various concerns and issues that PBGEA discussed with him.
The Vice President supports the putting up of a banana research institute in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Marfori said they need the help of local government units and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to educate small farm growers in implementing control measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
Marfori also admitted a decline in their production due to climate change.
She said too much rain had affected the growth of the plants and would produce undersized fruits. More rains are expected in the next few months and this will affect production.
Dizon Farms has a total aggregate area of 700 hectares planted to cavendish banana located in Nabunturan, Monkayo, Compostela and New Bataan in Compostela Valley province as well as in Cateel, Davao Oriental.
Mindanao has a total area planted to cavendish banana of 80,000 hectares, 60 percent of which are corporate farms while 40 percent are small banana farm growers. [PNA]
