A mango grower in San Mateo, Isabela was forced to discard nearly 3,000 kilos of mangoes because of the low selling price in the area.
Frederick Cabayan said mangoes are being sold at only P5 per kilogram, as of this writing, that losses were inevitable due to expenses in harvesting and transportation.
“Hindi nabenta yung mga mangga namin sa sobrang supply. Lugi yon kasi nabulok, di naman pupwedeng [ibenta] dahil nalamog na yung iba po, pinahihingi ko nalang po sya,” Cabayan said.
Cabayan said they also lack the capacity to process the mangoes, which was why they had to give the remaining fruit away to neighbors.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 2 said mango growers can coordinate with the agency so they can sell the fruits through the KADIWA initiative or be trained in manufacturing other products like dried mango chips and mango jam.
