Banana output could decline by at least a third in 2013

The country’s banana production could see a 33-percent drop in 2013, from 150 million boxes to 100 million, due to the devastation wrought by Typhoon Pablo on thousands of hectares planted to the crop, according to a banana growers' group asking for government support. “We are asking the Department of Agriculture to broker for us lower rates on loans available in the market," Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) president Steve Antig said Sunday. "As it is, Land Bank is not offering lower rates as previously reported. They maintained the 8-percent interest. Despite us being commercially big and all, we have no means to pay for that given our circumstances,” he added. The association met last week to refigure its 2013 budget to account for the rehabilitation of farms hit by Pablo. Antig said the group is also concerned about the growing trend of “pole-vaulting”—growers' selling their produce to buyers apart from those they have contracts with—which they said could affect their trading relations with certain buyers. “We are not worried about defaulting on our commitments. We have always honored our obligations to our partners. We may not serve the new markets but we definitely strive to deliver to our traditional markets. And our members will never resort to pole-vaulting,” said the PBGEA. — BM, GMA News