Davao Norte guv foresees fast post-Pablo recovery of banana industry in 2013

dec. 22, 2012

While projecting of an economic slowdown that would impact early next year to Tagum City, Davao del Norte’s premier city, Governor Rodolfo del Rosario though foresees “it would not be too long” for the typhoon-affected banana industry to recover next year 2013.

He reckoned that in six months’ time the province’s affected banana production areas could recover as he expressed optimism of the coming in of interventions of the Aquino administration particularly by the agriculture department.

As soon as the affected banana farmers would start planting as assisted by the government, recovery for the sector would be started, he told local mediamen during the year-end Kapihan forum held Thursday at the provincial Capitol in Barangay Mankilam, Tagum City.

He relayed that DA Secretary Proceso Alcala has committed his department’s resources to help the small, independent banana growers rise up again while the big banana companies would surely be back on the ground.

The governor bared that typhoon Pablo had destroyed about 50% of the Davao del Norte’s banana production particularly in the towns of Asuncion, Kapalong and San Isidro.

Davao del Norte is the country’s top cavendish banana producer with at least 20,000 hectares, while the hardest-hit Compostela Valley has almost half of such production level.

Earlier, the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association had earlier estimated a 25 percent or about 42,000 hectares of plantations owned by its members as damaged by typhoon Pablo. Both large-scale corporate and small-grower banana farms suffered the same fate in Davao Region.

PBGEA placed at between P8 to P12 billion worth of damage to the affected banana production.

While the province has almost zero casualty, with only one child reported lately, Gov. Del Rosario bared that the province’s agricultural sector was the hardest hit with damage of about P3.5 billion and half of billion pesos in terms of infrastructures.

On the same occasion, the governor reckoned though that in next months ahead the local economy of Tagum City would feel the negative impact of typhoon Pablo.

He said that malls in the city would be affected due to less economic activities and lack of employment.

The economic trend we have now, he added, would be rather sluggish.

He said though that there would be still opportunities that can be seized on during the post-typhoon reconstruction period as it could spark a “tremendous demand for labor”. – Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte