DA suspends raw ube exports as it aims to boost production

As ube gains in popularity abroad, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has indefinitely suspended raw exports of the purple yam as it bids to increase domestic production.

In a statement on Sunday, the DA said that the Bureau of Plant Industry's (BPI) suspension, issued last month, covers fresh ube and propagative planting materials, "whether shipments are intended for consumption, planting, or research."

The goal is to keep planting material in the Philippines while the ube industry increases its production capacity, said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr..

“We severely lack planting material ourselves, and we don’t want to export it to countries that could use Philippine ube varieties to compete with us,” he said.

The DA said that ube's popularity is currently growing faster than the Philippines' ability to produce. To meet growing demand, the department has been supporting researchers' work to increase ube propagation and develop more varieties.

Other government projects to boost the ube industry include using tissue culture, community-based nurseries, and mini-set propagation to increase the planting material supply. It has also allocated part of its proposed budget for next year to support the industry.

Ube stakeholders have also formed the United Ube PH Association Inc., a national organization consisting of farmers, cooperatives, growers, processors, traders, exporters, researchers, the academe, government agencies, and other industry players. — BM, GMA News