No Surplus Mangoes, Big Buyer Stops Buying
zbsarian
Local mango growers are really in big trouble. First, many of the fruits are small because of El Nino so more fruits are good only for sale to processors. Another problem is the widespread incidence of Kurikong damage. Again, because of the poor quality of the fruits, they are only good for sale to processors.
Then there is the biggest problem of them all. The processor that used to buy 500 tons a day suddenly reduced its buying to only 20 tons a day. The buying price has been lowered to P7 per kilo for the smallest fruits, P10 and P12 per kilo for the bigger ones. No way could the poor mango farmer make money at these prices.
So contrary to the pronouncements of government officials, there is no surplus production of carabao mangoes, only absence of big buyers. The talk of the town is that the big processor is going to import mango from Cambodia for processing. It is also being circulated that the company is putting up a processing plant in Cambodia.
It’s time the Department of Agriculture do something to help the mango farmers for the sake of the industry.
We have successfully processed a mango vinegar from overriped Indian mangoes for personal use, better tasting especially for salads. Our government must aggressively help farmers learn how to process so nothing go waste, make FDA licensing simplier and less expensive. We need to encourage local farmers to produce to become more competitive against our neighboring countries. Let’s buy local.