MANILA -- Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol on Monday said mango growers are set to undergo a workshop next week to enhance their production know-how, making them more internationally competitive, as part of the Metro Marketing Program for Philippine mangoes.
"The Department of Agriculture (DA) will conduct a workshop for mango growers and producers to address issues such as lowering the minimum residue level, lessening of production cost, and discuss better technique in mango production," said Piñol in a chance interview during the launch.
He divulged that the Japanese used to buy 7,000 metric tons (MT) of Philippine mangoes in the past but this dropped to a mere 300 MT due to food safety standard issue.
Piñol said mango growers and producers in the country use too much chemical spray in their farms and their production costs are high.
"Japanese implements a high standard with regards to food safety. Japan market for mango is about 12,000 MT," he noted.
That's why, the DA chief said mango growers and producers, during the workshop, will be taught "better technology" in mango production to address issues on residual level, lessening their cost of production, improve product standards to ensure they pass export requirements, as well as help them process their goods into high-value products.
"We will identify (in the workshop) what the farmers need, like bottling and storage because mangoes are a seasonal crop," he said.
Despite this, Piñol said Japanese firm Diamond Star Agro Products has committed to buy 100 MT of Philippine mangoes and is even willing to order another 100 MT this season if their food safety standards are met.
The Philippines also exports around 2 MT of mangoes to Dubai. The DA is also working on getting sanitary requirements to gain access to Russia and South Korea.
Meanwhile, Piñol said he had a positive meeting last June 5 with his counterpart Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshikawa Takamori in the latter's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.
Among the issues they discussed were the request of the Philippines for lower tariff on Cavendish banana exported to Japan from a range of 8 percent (during non-fruiting season) to 18 percent (during fruiting season) to "zero" tariff; the fast-tracking of the market access of Philippine Hass avocado; exemption from 100 percent inspection of banana exporting companies who are compliant to the minimum residue level of chemicals set by Japanese health authorities; and the recognition by Japan of the Philippines' status as a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD)-free country as declared by the OIE, the International Animal Health Body.
The DA chief said Yoshikawa promised to fast-track the processing of documents and requirements related to the issues he raised during the meeting.
"I'm expecting very positive development in the days to come (with regards to Philippine agriculture products access to Japanese market)," he said. (PNA)
