The Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office here has partnered with the prefectural government of Hiroshima, Japan, to improve banana production in Eastern Visayas.
Rodel Macapañas, DA regional field operations division chief, said on Monday that 13 parliamentarians of Hiroshima Prefecture met with them to benchmark the banana production in the region on March 19 in this city.
Japanese officials are upbeat that the visit will lead to the development of international exchange between Hiroshima and the Philippines, Macapañas said.
“As a strategic move to further upscale the banana industry in the region, the DA regional office sees an opportunity to team up with the Japanese government as they offer to extend technical assistance from various Japanese institutions,” Macapañas added.
During the visit, Hidenori Kobayashi, one of the Japanese delegates, said they came here to give their support to minimize the damage to banana production.
Japan developed a pathogen that can help eradicate “bugtok,” a bacterial disease common on bananas that significantly affects the production yield of this commodity.
“Bugtok” is an endemic and widely distributed bacterial disease of cooking banana cultivars in the Philippines.
It is a local term in the southern Philippines used to describe the infected fruits, which are discolored and hard even when ripe.
In a statement, Jenny Lyn Almeria, DA assistant regional director for research and regulations, appreciated the Japanese officials for the visit and collaboration.
“This will be the first of our partnership and collaboration. We hope you can extend to us the best we can do for our banana industry,” she said.
Through these initiatives, the DA aims to make the banana industry in Eastern Visayas more competitive, resilient, and sustainable, ultimately improving the livelihoods of local farmers and contributing to the region’s economic development, according to Almeria.
Eastern Visayas is the top producer of bananas in the central Philippines, with a harvest of 226,602.84 metric tons.
The crop is grown along the roadside, on the mountainside, in home lots, and on both big and small farms. (PNA)
