SANTA BARBARA, Pangasinan—Region 1 (Ilocos) has set its eye on improving its mango production this year, after recognizing the fruit’s competitive advantage in national and international markets, it was learned on Friday.
Dr. Paz Mones, regional technical director for operations of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 1, said mango is one of the commodities being focused on under the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP).
According to her, the PRDP has two components: infrastructure development (I-Build), which will take up 65 percent of the program’s P27-billion budget; and enterprise development (I-Reap).
Officials of the region, with the help of mango growers’ associations, are now preparing economically and technically feasible production, postharvest and even processing projects for mangoes.
Projects, like the construction of farm-to-market roads and short bridges, particularly in major mango-producing areas, like San Carlos City in Pangasinan province, may be proposed. There is no limit to the number of proposals that can be made, as allocation will be done on a first-come, first-served basis.
Also, each of the four provinces that make up the region is tasked to prepare their provincial commodity investment plan on mango based on value-chain analysis.
The implementation of the PRDP projects will start next year.
Aside from the infrastructures, the PRDP will also address major mango infestations, such as kurikong (cecid flies).
Pangasinan, Mones said, remains as the top mango producer in the region, producing about 35 percent of the total regional output.
After mango, Region 1’s other commodities that are being focused on under the PRDP are peanuts and goats.
Six-year project
THE PRDP, in partnership with local government units and the private sector, is a six-year project designed to establish the government platform for a modern, climate-smart and market-oriented agri-fishery sector.
It aims to provide key infrastructure, facilities, technology, and information that will raise incomes, productivity, and competitiveness in the countryside.
The PRDP’s specific objectives include raising farmers’ income by at least 5 percent, the income of targeted beneficiaries of enterprise development by 30 percent, the value of annual marketed output by 7 percent, and the number of farmers and fishermens with improved access to DA services by 20 percent.
Organic fertilizer for mango
MEANWHILE, 16 agricultural-extension workers from Region 1, under the Training of Trainors on Integrated, Cultural Management on Mango Production, are determined to help increase mango production in Ilocos by developing organic fertilizers.
The group has come up with various fertilizers in lieu of synthetic ones, like the fermented plant juice made from alugbati, kangkong, banana trunk and molasses.
It also has fermented fruit juice and oriental herbal nutrient juice, said to be effective on vegetables. However, the fertilizers’ effectiveness on mango and other trees is yet to be proven.
“The production of the organic fertilizers is really [labor-intensive], but very cheap,” said group facilitator Aris Magat of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
He said two tablespoons of the extract is enough to be mixed to one liter of water before its application to the trees.
One of the trainers, Paul James Gañola of the research and extension office of the provincial government of La Union province, said he and other trainers are also conducting studies on how to kill pests, like the cecid flies.
The group’s season-long training started in September. It will last until February 2015.
After their training, each participant will propose projects and act as facilitators in the field to transfer their technology to the farmers.