Mindanao banana growers need at least P7B for Pablo rehab — PBGEA

Banana growers in Mindanao will need at least P7 billion and as many as 12 months to rehabilitate the thousands of hectares of banana plantations destroyed by Typhoon Pablo in December, the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association said last week. With all reports not yet in, the association said that of the approximately 80,000 hectares of banana plantations in Mindanao, those hardest hit by the typhoon were small growers accounting for 9,020 hectares as well corporate farms with 5,166 hectares planted to Cavendish bananas. According to PBGEA, banana farmers lost some P8 billion worth of crops in the typhoon. The association earlier said that the Philippines could see a a 33-percent drop in banana production in 2013, from 150 million boxes to 100 million. The Department of Trade and Industry has also said the massive damage to the Mindanao plantations could bring down total merchandise exports this year. The government will release P33 million in assistance this month to banana farmers in the Davao Region and Compostela Valley, a move welcomed by the PBGEA. "The immediate response of various government agencies is a good indication of the Government’s concern to the industry looking at the banana as a major economic and food crop. We greatly appreciate that," PBGEA executive director Stephen Antig was quoted as saying on the association's website. — BM, GMA News