by Elvy T. Estacio, RPCOCAR InfoACE

Farmers’ cooperatives in the Cordillera, with banana enterprise subprojects under the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) participated in this year’s Banana Conference and Exhibit, held from October 17 to 18 in Davao City.

Recognizing banana as one of the Philippines’ most economically significant fruit crops for both local consumption and export, DA Region 11 collaborated with the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. and the Philippine Banana Council, Inc. to gather banana producers and exhibitors nationwide. The event aimed to showcase their products and facilitate potential market linkages, bringing together industry leaders to share insights and innovations in the banana sector.

Among the cooperatives from the Cordillera who participated in the said event are Daram-Cudal Multipurpose Cooperative (DCMPC) from Kalinga, Flora Multipurpose Cooperative and Calaoan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative (CARB MPC) from Apayao. These groups exhibited fresh cardava bananas along with banana by-products like chips and flour.

Juiana Salibad, manager of the DCMPC, expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to attend the conference.

“Damok nga ag attend ti conference on banana ket na-amiris ko nga very behind tayo gayam iti banana technologies, ngem agpasalamatak ta nainayon kami ditoy nga conference ket ado ti naadal mi tapno maimprove ti kasabaan mi (it was my first time attending a conference on banana, and I realized how far behind we are in terms of banana technologies, but I’m still grateful for having attended the conference to learn new things that will help us improve our farming practices),” Salibad shared.

Echoing her sentiment, Reiner Bilan, the project manager for CARB MPC’s banana enterprise, found the conference both educational and motivating.

“Padasen mi mangaramid iti demo farm applying dagijay naadal mi idi conference tapno maawis mi dagitoy farmers ta saan da pay naruwam ti technologies no kasano nga maadaan ti napintas nga kalidad tis aba,” Bilan said, expressing his interest in applying what they learned to encourage other farmers in adopting new banana technologies for improved crop quality.

The conference provided the participants with opportunities to explore cutting-edge technologies and services offered by private companies and organizations in the banana value chain. They gained valuable insights into improved banana farming techniques, sustainable packaging solutions, and innovations in crop protection among others.

In addition to the exhibits, the event featured business-to-business market matching and plenary discussions on critical topics such as pest management, business security, financing, and potential expansions into the export market.###