THE Department of Agriculture (DA) in Davao Region denied allegations by a group of small-banana growers in Mindanao that the department did not address its problem with fungus infestation that affected some of its member-farmers.
Melanie Provido, chief of the high-value crop division of the DA-Davao, said the government has been very supportive with all the needs of the banana farmers especially in Mindanao, particularly after the industry has been hit by the Panama disease that infested thousands of hectares of banana plantations across Mindanao.
Provido issued the statement after Remigio Garcia, chair of the Mindanao Banana Farmers and Exporters Association (MBFEA) stood up during the open forum on the last day of the 1st Mindanao Banana Congress that none of their member-farmer has benefited from the government’s P200-million budget for the banana industry in Mindanao.
Garcia also went on to say that the DA should provide with a direct intervention on the fungal infestation that affected most of their members. At the same time, he also questioned how the DA spent the money when it didn’t reach the targeted beneficiaries.
But, Provido said the P200-million budget was not directly allocated to DA-Davao but rather it was coursed through the Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), which is a division under DA national.
“It is very easy to make statements and allegations without any proof. All the pertinent records and documents are all available if one is interested to take a look at it,” Provido said.
On the P200-million budget, Provido said P150 million has been released to the DA-BAR and only P30 million was directly downloaded to the regional office of DA and the rest will cover the entire Mindanao region.
Garcia said since the government has no in-house expert particularly on the recent fungal infestation, it should have hired or collaborated with Dr. Agustin Molina, present regional coordinator and senior scientist of the Biodiversity International Asia Pacific Office who have extensive experience with the industry’s dilemma.
But Provido said that was the government was doing. She said of the P150-million budget that was poured to the DA-BAR, part of it was to finance the research where Dr. Molina is part.
Of the 6,000 member farmers of MBFEA, which is equivalent to 18,000 hectares of banana plantations, 1,000 hectares of which have been affected by the fungus.
On the issue on why none of the members of the MBFEA has benefited the government’s trainings and seminars, as the main thrust of the government in addressing the industry’s problem, Provido said it could be because MBFEA has an outstanding contract with the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA).
Provido said all banana growers who have contract with the PBGEA cannot avail of the services of the government in addressing problems like infestation since it is part of the contract that all related problems will be addressed by the PBGEA itself.
