By Celeste Anna Formoso – PNA
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Palawan is seeking the help of Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol in saving its mango industry from the pulp weevil pest problem that has now crossed the northern provincial border to Roxas.
Mango pulp weevil (MPW) is an infestation problem that has hounded the mango industry in the province since its discovery in 1987.
Board member Albert Rama said a “massive eradication program” is needed, or there will be no more hope for the province’s mango harvest to be sold as a fruit.
“Kinakailangan na talaga natin ang tulong ng DA para ma-eradicate na natin itong mango pulp weevil dahil baka wala ng pag-asa na mailabas pa ang prutas sa Palawan para maibenta (We really need DA’s help in eradicating the mango pulp weevil because we might not be able to sell them outside of Palawan),” Rama said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA) Thursday.
In a resolution he filed before the Provincial Board (PB) last Monday, Rama said Palawan has 3,263 hectares of mango plantations with 326,300 trees that produce an estimated 22,788 metric tons of fruits.
Many of these fruits are no longer profitable for mango farmers due to three decades of MPW infestation.
Jane Buenaobra, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), said the transfer of the MPW infestation was detected in September this year in Barangay Magara, Roxas.
She said there is a checkpoint that was set up in the border between Puerto Princesa City and Roxas to prevent the entry of MPW-infected mangoes, but the staff and personnel are not deputized to make searches.
“Ang problema, may checkpoint sa Roxas pero hindi naging ganoon ka-efficient. Magtatanong lang sila kung meron ba o wala, pero they are not really deputized (The problem is, there is a checkpoint in Roxas, but it was not that efficient. They will only ask if travelers have mangoes, but they are not really deputized),” she said.
There is supposedly a soft X-ray imaging machine to detect MPW presence inside mango fruits, but she is not aware where it is or if it is being used.
Buenaobra said the MPW can spread fast into other towns in northern Palawan unless “enforcement is strictly implemented.”
If an immediate decision is hers to make, she said there is a need now to allocate funds for the processing of mango derivatives and to strengthen it. She said mangoes can be made into candies, jams, juice extracts, puree, dried fruits, ingredients to chocolate products, and others.
Buenaobra pointed out that until today, Palawan does not yet have mango processing.
“Kasi ‘yong selling ng fresh mangoes, I don’t think kaya pa nating i-survive. Marami na ang natatapon na fresh fruit dahil sa MPW (I don’t think we can still survive to get our fresh mangoes in the market. We’re discarding a lot of fresh fruits because of the MPW),” she said.
The MPW crossing the border to northern Palawan is a sad development in Palawan’s fight to save the mango industry.
“Ipaubaya na natin kay Guimaras, kay Cebu… ultimo si Romblon na napakaliit may fresh mangoes dahil wala silang problema sa MPW. Kaya tayo, palakasin na lang ang processing (Let’s give it to Guimaras, to Cebu… even Romblon that is small has fresh mangoes because it does not have a problem on MPW. For us, let’s just strengthen our processing),” she said.
