Seeing the vast markets for mango fruits, mango growers in the Zamboanga Peninsula now embark on increasing their production with good agricultural practices to get quality produce.

In a regional mango industry development planning conference held here on Wednesday, the participants have identified certain concerns affecting the mango industry such as high cost of inputs, limited access to financing, high distribution cost, poor market linkages, absence of processing facilities and others.

But one problem that stood out to be a hindrance for mangoes produced in the region to enter international market was the stringent phytosanitary requirements set by importing countries like US and Japan. “Although we have a vast international market for our mangoes, the strict phytosanitary requirements have prevented us from exporting our produce,” former TESDA9 regional head Roberto Braga said. “The only solution to this problem is to produce quality mangoes using good agricultural practices,” he added.

In a related development, the region had marketed 721.5 metric tons of mangoes to BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asian Growth Area) in 2005.   

All the three provinces in the region – Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay- are producing mangoes. In addition to the existing 11,000 hectares of mango plantation region-wide, the regional field office of the Department of Agriculture has targeted to expand to at least 400 hectares.  (PIA)