El Niño good for mango industry but…
LINGAYEN—The El Niño weather is not entirely bad news.
This prolonged dry spell, which will have a negative effect on the production of rice, corn and vegetables, is on the other hand conducive for cultivating mangoes.
Angel Padilla, coordinator of high-yield commercial crops sector of the Department of Agriculture (DA), said the El Niño is advantageous for mango growers, especially after the industry was affected by the series of typhoons in the last two years.
“El Niño is beneficial to the mangoes because it would induce a lot of flowering to our mangoes,” Padilla said.
He added, however, that mango production in Pangasinan, the biggest producer in the country, is under threat of pests.
“The problem right now is the capability of the mango producers to provide the inputs needed to maintain the flowers so it will be converted into fruits,” Padilla said.
“Ang problema ay napakarami nating peste na napakahirap i-control,” he added, such that some pesticide companies have stopped providing farm inputs to the mango growers.
The DA is now looking into possible solutions to help the industry.
LOWER PRODUCTION
With the typhoons and pests, Padilla said mango production has been on the decline.
“In region 1, we had more than 440,000 metric tons production previously but this is decreasing by 10 to 15 percent because of the series of typhoons,” he said.
Based on data gathered by The PUNCH, Pangasinan accounts for 39.5 percent of the national production with 1,022,399 metric tons produced last year.
The DA distributed about 50,000 mango seedlings to growers in Pangasinan who were affected by the typhoons. These seedlings are expected to start bearing fruit in five to seven years.#
Grass fire destroys 30 mango trees
BUGALLON–A four-hour grass fire razed 30 fruit-bearing mango trees in the farm of former Rep. Antonio “Joe” Bengson III in Barangay Salomague Sur here Monday.
The fire started around 12:20 noontime and firefighters were able to put it off at 4:20 p.m, according to Senior Fire Officer 2 Ruben Martin, fire chief of the town.
No one was reported injured.
Martin said the fire started in an area outside the perimeter fence of Bengson’s farmhouse and spread fast due to strong winds and the high temperature.
He added that grass fires happen here every year.#
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