National mango Congress set in Cagayan de Oro

The 19th National Mango Congress will be held on November 27-29 at the Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro, it was announced by Virgie de la Fuente, president of the Philippine Mango Industry Foundation, Inc. (PMIFI).

Serving as host/co-organizer is the CMB Mango Growers Organization, Inc., a PMIFI member, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture Region 10.

De la Fuente said that despite the Philipine mango’s recognition and share in the international market two years prior, “we are being challenged with the diminishing production and productivity of the mango trees due to neglect, lack of pruning of undernourished mango trees and, this year, due to high incidence of cecid flies, not to mention the environmental and market price unpredictability.”

De la Fuente hastens to add, however, that Agriculture Sec. Manny Piñol has been swiftly acting on the challenges. She said that Piñol, starting in the last four weeks, has been conducting a series of weekly forums and consultations with regional mango stakeholders nationwide for crafting the “5-Year Mango Industry Road Map.”

At the Congress, de la Fuente said, “we would like to come together and adopt the said road map that would ultimately lead us to attain the goal of achieving 20 metric tons of fruits per hectare in five years, thus regaining and strengthening our world market position and compete globally amidst

PMIFI President Virgie de la Fuente is hopeful that the mango industry road map that is being crafted will result in mango productivity, targeting a 20-ton yield per hectare in the next five years. Agriculture Sec. Manny Piñol is working on the roadmap...

MANNY BARTOCILLO has been responsible for keeping the mango industry alive in Southern Mindanao, Region 12, where more than 17,000 hectares are planted to mango. In previous years, many mango growers in the area did not take care of their trees due to...