by Aurelio Peña
SO WHAT IF the Davao region has been “unseated” as top banana exporter?
It doesn’t really matter to most of the multinational banana firms like Dole Stanfilco, Del Monte, Unifruitti, Sumitomo, etc. which have been moving their expansion areas to other provinces in Mindanao like Bukidnon, Cotabato, Misamis, etc., the last few years.
This “evacuation” of banana companies from Davao, is not so much because of anti-aerial spraying protests, but because the soil in those areas is much, much richer for growing “highland” and “organic” Cavendish bananas which command higher prices in the global markets.
New investors in the banana export business would rather do business in a region or province where the people are friendly and understand the “quality requirements” of growing world-class quality Cavendish bananas.
Aerial spraying, as everyone here knows by now, has been with us in the Davao region since the 1960’s or more than four decades. There had been similar protests in the past which led to the establishment of “buffer zones” for banana plantations that needed aerial spraying to fight the sigatoka disease which causes yellowing of the banana leaves and wilting of the fruit—but weren’t as strong as the placard-waving groups we see now.
Sigatoka is one of the two biggest enemies of the banana export business (the other one being Moko) which cannot be fought with “manual spraying”— where a worker sprays the top of each banana plant ONE BY ONE.—- the worst way of eradicating sigatoka, because of direct chemical exposure.
Between manual and aerial spraying, according to one banana expert I talked to last week, the former is “very risky” while the latter is “much safer” and more efficient because the spray hits only the top leaves—the real target of the spraying.
While the top honchos at the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) are out swinging their fists fighting the anti-spraying protesters and pleading for help from the unpopular Malacanang tenant, you can safely guess the government is not ready to kill the goose that has been laying the golden eggs for more than 40 years.
With or without the anti-spraying advocates, the Philippine banana industry still needs to expand its total production areas to meet the growing demand for fresh bananas in the world’s markets.
Davao isn’t the only area in the country where the banana industry can flourish. It will continue to seek areas with rich soil, huge tracts of land, good weather— but, most especially, people friendly to banana investments.
(For comments, email me at: < tradingpost_davao@yahoo.com>)
