SMALL banana growers in Mindanao are seeking the assistance of the government as China, their biggest market temporarily halts its importation of Philippine bananas due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
According to the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), millions of Filipinos relying on the banana industry will lose their jobs, especially small banana growers.
“We have a problem, especially on our small banana growers. They do not have long-term contracts and they rely on spot buyers. With the outbreak of Covid-19, the spot buyers decreased,” said Stephen Antig, executive director of PBGEA.
Antig explained that small growers were having difficulties in exporting or shipping their banana produce because the containers intended to transport their products to China were halted.
“Some of the containers are still at the different ports of China. If we recall, they recently celebrated Chinese New Year and after that, the Covid-19 outbreak occurred and it caused the Chinese government to add more holidays for their safety,” Antig said, adding that they hope the Philippine government will extend more assistance to the industry as the country produces “world-class quality Cavendish bananas.”
The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier reported that banana production dropped by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018.
Small and large growers in the Davao Region harvested lesser banana bunches during the quarter because of the fusarium wilt disease or Panama disease that spread through their farmlands. The bacterial wilt disease also affected banana production in the Central Visayas region.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department urged consumers and private companies to buy and promote local agricultural products as a way of supporting Filipino farmers.
Pinoy sauce producer NutriAsia Inc. is among the companies that source raw products locally. The ingredients the company uses in its banana catsup come from farming communities in Davao del Norte.
