Doing it right! MinDA Starts Avocado Industry Uniting Farmers, Stakeholders

When the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) holds a virtual convention on May 17 to launch the Hass Avocado and Jackfruit Industry in Mindanao, it will learn from the sad and painful lessons of the disorganized agro-industrial ventures like rubber, palm oil and Cavendish banana.

The Rubber Industry which was first introduced to Mindanao through Basilan, Zamboanga and Cotabato over a century ago had been beset by a free-for-all attitude with no set and accepted standards in production and the failure to complete the value chain leaving farmers at the mercy of rubber cup lumps traders.

This is the same narrative for both the Oil Palm and Cavendish Banana where government support and interventions had been sorely missing leaving both sectors to fend for themselves.

In fact, it was only during my time as Secretary of Agriculture when the Banana Industry took the first step to full organizing with the creation of the Banana Industry Development Council.

The absence of a government-assisted research and development program had left these sectors in the doldrums.

The Cavendish Banana Industry, for example, propelled the Philippines to the status of the second largest producer in the world, a distinction which is now threatened by the unabated devastation of banana farms by the Fusarium Wilt or Panama Disease and the cut-throat competition among farmers themselves.

With these lessons in mind, I will present to the participants during the Hass Avocado and Abuyog Jackfruit Virtual Convention a development approach which covers all areas – from product research and development, to reliable funding programs, to scientific and efficient production, to a consolidated marketing program and a complete value chain.

Led by the Mindanao Avocado and Jackfruit Organizing Council (MAJOR-C), both sectors will draw a road map which would carefully craft production targets based on the market’s absorptive capacity.

There will be no mad-rush to plant, which marked the introduction of new agricultural crops in Mindanao in the past, as the Road Map will identify which areas are suited for the development of these new crops.

Only those whose areas are ideal for the growing of these crops will be accredited as members of the new sectors who will subscribe to the production and environmental protocols to be set by MAJOR-C.

Quality, Quantity and Market Absorptive Capacity will be the guiding principles which MinDA will inculcate into the minds of the farmers and stakeholders of these new industries.

With these guidelines religiously observed, the Philippines could rise to become one of the major producers of Hass Avocado and Jackfruit in the world in 5 to 10 years, just as it did with Cavendish Banana production.

This time, we will start with the right foot.

#LearningFromPainfulLessons!

#AgricultureIsCommonSense!

(Photos of the Hass Avocado Mother Trees in Mindanao were taken by Mayette Tudlas while the graphs showing the market potentials and ranking of top Avocado producers were downloaded from public websites.)