Mango growers and farmers in Puerto Princesa City will soon be able to bring and sell their produce to a multi-purpose cooperative with the help of the processing enterprise of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).
A press statement released by the Regional Field Office MIMAROPA of the DA said this will be possible after the ongoing construction of a processing center in Sitio Tagumpay, Barangay Inagawan Subcolony is completed.
“The Mango Processing Facility and Marketing (MPFM) subproject is being eyed to be a huge contribution to the government’s effort in solving the problem on mango oversupply in Puerto Princesa City,” the statement, which was sent Monday, said.
The DA regional field office said the processing center is strategically surrounded by mango growers and their plantations in the neighboring barangays of Luzviminda and Mangingisda in the city, and Isaub in Aborlan town.
This will enable the mango growers and farmer members to easily bring their farm produce and sell them to the Tagumpay Agrarian Auto Savings Multi-Purpose Cooperative (TAAS MPC).
“The TAAS MPC, the subproject’s proponent organization, was created a few years ago with the assistance of the Department of Agrarian Reform DAR). Now, the cooperative is attached to the DA through the PRDP.
The statement further said the oversupply of mango in Palawan is mainly attributed to the presence of the mango pulp weevil.
The small pest infecting mango fruits, which was first discovered in the 1980s in southern Palawan, has caused the province-wide ban on the export of fresh mango fruits to prevent its spread to other parts of the country.
“This greatly affected the income of farmers in the province, particularly in Puerto Princesa where more than one million hectares are planted with mangoes,” it said.
With the completion of the facility, TAAS MPC plans to utilize the oversupply of mango by processing by-products, primarily dried mango and mango nectar.
One of its goals, the statement said, is to make its own version of a dried mango product that can be a Puerto Princesa City signature food item. This will be distributed to local retailers and souvenir shops which mainly sell to tourists aside from local consumers.
At present, the TAAS-MPC, with the assistance of the City Agriculture Office (CAO), is prioritizing the training of its members who will be responsible for the processing of mangoes.
These members so far have attended trainings conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The enterprise, as expressed by the cooperative, aims to adopt new technologies to improve its strategies in meeting its targets and objectives of increasing the income of and improving the socio-economic situation of mango growers.
The Mango Processing Facility and Marketing is a subproject under the enterprise development component of the PRDP which was developed as part of the commodity prioritization of Puerto Princesa City.
It is the first intervention under PRDP to be approved for the mango industry of the city.
About Post Author
