Can a family of nine live on a total family income of P6,500 per month? This is exactly the amount earned by 59-year old Marcelo I. Luma, a farmer and an elder belonging to the Tagabawa-Bagobo tribe in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
Luma and his wife, along with their seven children, depend solely on a 1.5-hectare sugarcane farm. He also has a three hectare adjoining farm planted to cash crops like lacatan banana and other plants.
He is among the many farmer-workers affiliated and who gets income from their affiliation with the Davao del Sur Sugar Central Co. Luma’s monthly income is, however, expected to increase thanks to the launching of the P500 million Saba Banana Integrated Development Program.
The success of the Program is linked with the success of SAGREX which recently set foot on the world market through its microwavable banana. The company expects a revenue of $12 million per year from the saba export.
SAGREX Foods, Inc., a Davao-based corporation which started out as an agricultural trading and export company, is set to conquer the world market as it targets the over 12 million overseas Filipino workers for its microwaveable saba or banana products.
No less than President Arroyo witnessed the launching recently of the Saba Banana Integrated Development Program held at the Marco Polo Hotel Tuesday last week. She also awarded certificates of entitlement of the DOLE Kabuhayan Starter Kits on the Saba Banana Integrated Development Program.
This program is a collaboration between the Department of Trade and Industry and Sagrex Foods Inc. DTI undersecretary Merly Cruz said the agency has identified Microwaveable Saba Banana as one of its priority projects. Saba and Cardava bananas are being eyed as alternatives to rice in terms of nutritional value.
“There is a very big market for banana, especially for saba, considering the number of OFWs out there,” Sagrex Food, Inc. president and CEO Ferdinand Maranon said. Just 20% of the 12 million OFWs would already translate to a demand for 6.6 million kilograms of microwavable bananas. Sagrex has taken a P40 million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines for the purchase of microwaveable equipment and storage freezers to jumpstart the project.
When this project goes full blast, one can expect the Cardava banana to be processed into a variety of products, including banana fries, spring rolls and the microwaveable Cardava packs. These products are in fact already penetrating the United States, Canada, Middle East and Canada.
“But our top market for our microwaveable saba is really the US,” Maranon said. The other potential export markets for it include Australia, Japan and Korea.
The introduction of microwaveable saba in the global market is expected to enhance the competitiveness of the banana industry, which continues to be the top dollar earner for the Philippines.
Maranon said the microwaveable saba in the form of turon and fries was a hit when it was served as snacks during the Trade and Investment Mission Seminars held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which was organized by DTI in 2005. The first 20 metric tons of frozen banana products were shipped by Sagrex to KSA a few months later.
Today, the company exports over 12 containers of saba to the Middle East, US, Canada and other Asian markets.
But more than conquering the export market, he said, the program is expected to provide a sustainable livelihood opportunity for Mindanao’s banana farmers.
