John Tan, CEO of Eng Seng Food Products (ESFP), a durian exporting company, emphasized the importance of producing quality durian for export so as not to be wasted.
“We need quality durian before quantity. Lalo na ngayon napansin ko maraming linghod (unripe), sayang pera. We need to educate the farmers para maka harvest sa tama na panahon. Sayang kasi hundred million ang mawawala dahil linghod, sayang natapon lang. Kasi pag linghod itatapon yan,” Tan told Edge Davao on the sidelines of the opening of Durian Festival at SM Lanang Premier on Friday.
Tan said there is a need to educate the farmers to produce quality durian and the Department of Agriculture 11 (DA 11) and the Department of Trade and Industry 11 (DTI 11) have been conducting training for the farmers.
“Masipag ang ating DA at DTI sa Davao for conducting training sa mga farmers. We need to improve the quality of our durian. We need quality production of durian for export,” he said.
ESFP is one of the four exporting companies that participated in the first shipment of durian from Davao City to China in April last year.
Tan said they are targeting to deliver again durian to China next week, this time at least 300 to 400 containers.
Aside from China, he said they will start exporting durian to Canada and the US. He said for Canada they are looking at exporting about 10 tons of fresh fruit durian via airplane.
“We need to push for good variety and good quality para maging successful tayo sa export market,” Tan said.
Meanwhile, DA-11 Regional Executive Director Macario Gonzaga reported that recent data showed that of the total 78,284 metric tons volume of durian produced in the Philippines last year, 60,331 metric tons, or almost 77% is from the Davao Region.
Gonzaga said the department is now refocusing its programs to encourage and assist durian farmers to adhere to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and apply for PhilGAP certification to ensure the quality of their produce.
Gonzaga also said that this year, DA 11 through its High Value Crops Development Program has allocated P6.4 million for the provision of 64,846 pieces of durian seedlings.
He said the delivery of these seedlings to the provinces is ongoing.
“And finally, putting a premium on skills training and development, we are allocating P1 million for Specialized Training on Durian focusing on GAP,” Gonzaga said.
Lawyer Genevieve E. Velicaria-Guevarra, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs of DA, said that according to data from the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry, from 2019 to the present, Davao City has exported nearly 11,000 metric tons of frozen durian meat and nearly 9,000 metric tons of fresh durian to China, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, USA, Taiwan, UAE, Singapore, Qatar, UK, Bahrain, Indonesia, and Lebanon.
“Sa kasalukuyan ang durian ay isa sa mga nagbibigay-kabuhayan para sa ating mga magsasaka. Hindi lang dito sa local market nakikilala ang durian, pati na rin sa international market, kung saan tayo ngayon ay nag-e-export na,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra said aside from frozen and fresh durian, the country is also exporting durian puree, candy, jam, and dried durian products.
