Banana still Davao Region’s top export

By Greg G. Deligero
Despite the huge damage suffered from Typhoon Pablo, banana remains as Davao Region’s top export during the first two months of 2013, records obtained from the Philippine Ports Authority showed.
Of the P237.06 million total exports in January to February, fresh banana and banana chips cornered 53.33 percent, almost the same performance posted during the entire period last year. In 2012, the region’s total exports reached P1.58 billion, with banana as the top product cornering 54.24 percent.
However, there is a marked decrease in volume in banana production and that is mainly due to the effects of Pablo.
In 2012, the average volume of fresh banana shipped out from the region reached 222.39 million kilograms per month while during the first two months this year averaged only 189 million kilograms.
The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) earlier reported that the damage sustained by the banana industry in the aftermath of Typhoon Pablo amounted to over P11 billion.
The estimate covers 14,175 hectares of plantation in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Bukidnon – home to Cavendish-exporting companies. The organization estimated the rehabilitation costs at P7.07 billion.
The devastation came about while the industry was still reeling from the effects of the stringent measures that the Chinese government has imposed since March on the product. The Chinese government implemented strict regulations after claiming that there were bacteria found on a shipment.
Although big banana companies did not suffer much due to the strict regulations, small banana growers sustained heavy losses as the China market was the number one buyer of their produce.
The impact of the regulations tolled heavily on the small banana growers as big companies were already implementing these mechanisms after catering to stricter markets like Japan.
This year, the top export destinations of banana products are Bahrain, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, coconut oil and crude oil products ranked as second top export product this year valued at P33.93 million or 14.31 percent followed by fresh pineapple with P14.68 million of 6.19 percent.
Other top export products are rubber, carbon, copra, gold, raw sugar, tiles and granite and fresh papaya.