Reduced harvest cuts fruit production
Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Fri, 31 May 2019 16:16:34 +0000
The country’s fruit production in the first quarter of the year fell as a result of lower harvest of pineapple, mango and banana, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
In its Major Fruit Crops Quarterly Bulletin, PSA said banana production dropped 1.4 percent to 2.14 million metric tons (MT) from 2.11 million MT a year ago.
The Davao region accounted for 784,327 MT or 37.1 percent of the total banana production, followed by Northern Mindanao, 526,607 MT (24.9 percent) and Soccsksargen, 269,991 MT (12.8 percent).
The typically exported Cavendish variety totaled 1.20 million MT or 56.6 percent of the total banana output. Saba came in second, 528,676 MT (25 percent) and Lakatan, 188,038 MT (8.9 percent).
Mango production in the first three months of 2019 fell by 2.8 percent to 94,920 MT, PSA said.
Ilocos Region led the country with 51,824 MT or 54.6 percent to total mango production. The other top producing regions were Central Luzon and Western Visayas with 15,686 MT (16.5 percent) ,686 MT and 6,462 MT (6.8 percent), respectively.
The Carabao mango accounted for 77,251 MT, or 81.4 percent of the total production in January to March, PSA said.
During the period, the country’s pineapple production dipped 0.04 percent to 621,374 MT.
PSA said bulk of pineapple produced were from Northern Mindanao with 346,445 MT, contributing 55.8 percent of the total. This was followed by Soccsksargen, 215,808 MT (34.7 percent) and Bicol Region, 36,464 MT (5.9 percent).
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