Tags: Agribusiness
By Anna Valmero
TAGUM CITY, DAVAO DEL NORTE – Durian growers here are eyeing the export market amid the challenges they face regarding product quality, post harvest facilities and research and development.
Tagum City has more than 2,100 hectares of durian trees grown by small farmer beneficiaries and private growers who applied for the Plant Now, Pay Later or PNPL program.
Entering the export market is a common interest among these 200 local durian and jackfruit growers during a recent forum on management of Pythoptora disease, said Tagum city tourism council chairperson Alma Uy.
After more than a decade since Tagum farmers began tilling their durian lots in 1998, durian growers are now selling their produce in volumes, especially during the annual Durian Festival or harvest season.
Uy said that farmers got more interested about the export market after they were assured by counterparts in Thailand of their help.
Before getting through the export market, Uy saw the need for farmers to work on improving the quality of their durian produce. “It has to have a good shape,” he said, adding that this can be done through cross-breeding.
Post-harvest handling is also a concern for local growers. In the Philippines, due-for-harvest durian fruits are left to fall into the ground but export standards require that the fruit should not touch the ground.
“There should be nets (to catch the fruit) so it won’t fall into the ground,” Uy said.
It is also important for the Philippines to have a “signature” variety of durian, which could be remedied by government investment on reseach and development. The facility is also eyed to produce high-yielding varieties to answer the supply problem as some durian farms have been converted to banana plantations.
The return of investment in durian farming takes about six to seven years to when trees start bearing fruit while banana harvest period comes in three croppings a year.
Related stories:
Bankerohan market is where you go for ‘pasalubong’ in Davao
The many ways of enjoying Davao’s exotic durian
Davao women turn durian fiber into paper handicrafts
QC entrepreneur promotes healthy homemade ice cream made from soya and olive oil
Advertising Agribusiness Agriculture Airline Industry Aquaculture Automobiles Banking Car Accessories consumer elec Consumer Electronics Consumer Goods and Concerns Cooperatives Cottage Industries Death Entrepreneurship Filipinos Abroad Food Establishments Groceries and Shopping Centers Handicraft Handicrafts hardware Hardware Solutions Horticulture Internet Livelihood Programs Malls Mass Media and Communications Mobile Phone Industry OFWs Outsourcing Real Estate Software Solutions technology Technology Industry teleco Telecommunications Tourism Transportation Vermiculture Wholesale and Retail
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
