DA frowns upon practice of growers’ pole-vaulting

The Philippine government will impose stringent measures to stop banana pole-vaulting, the practice of growers in selling their produce to buyers outside of those they have marketing contracts with.
This was revealed by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala in  a speech read for him by DA Davao Region Executive Director Constancio U. Maghanoy Jr. during the opening Wednesday of the Mindanao Banana Congress at the SMC Convention Center in Davao City.
Secretary  Alcala said the department has started implementing an order that would require exporters to get accreditation from the agency.
Alacala said pole-vaulting activities have “sacrificed” the qualities of bananas reaching the foreign markets “in exchange of meeting the volume requirements of fly-by-night spot buyers.”
He said the imposition of the order will ensure that qualities of bananas reaching the foreign markets will be better.
“Continuous monitoring of production areas will be done by our quarantine officers to make sure that only traders with validated volume of exports will be approved for export,” he added.
Big banana exporters, through the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, have sought the help of the government in preventing pole-vaulting described by Stephen A. Antig, executive director of the association, as a “big problem.”
“Government must help the industry solve this problem before it gets out of hand,” Antig told Davao business writers.
Pole-vaulting activities started about five years ago when the Iran market, which imported a sizeable volume of bananas from the Philippines, started to slowdown after it got entangled with the United States as it continued to pursue its nuclear programs.
Some foreign buyers, taking advantage of the reduction in prices on the part of the traditional buyers, decided to tap some consolidators whom they tasked to buy from growers, many of them were able to sign long-term marketing contracts with their buyers.
As a result of the pole-vaulting activities, a big company even sued its growers, members of a cooperative created after they became agrarian reform beneficiaries, it accused them of selling their produce to others even when they already signed up a contract with the company.
The problem has continued to beset the industry after the China market, the growing market for Philippine bananas, imposed stringent measures on the product early this year.
Based on the report, the problem with the China market started when some insects were found on a load of Philippine banana reaching the country.
As a result, China required Philippine exporters to implement stringent protocols like better packing houses.
Although big companies under PBGEA were already complying with the new requirements, small banana growers could hardly do it, prompting the national government to subsidize them.