Storm-stricken banana farmers seek gov’t help

SMALL banana growers in the Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley provinces are asking for government assistance after their farms were severely damaged in the wake of a supertyphoon.

Mindanao Banana Farmers and Exporters Association (MBFEA) chair Romy Garcia said in a statement that they would need some P3.5 billion in financial assistance. That, Garcia said, is the estimated cost of rehabilitating their plantations.

“We appeal to the government to extend financial support to the farmers as we could not support on our own the needed rehabilitation expenses,” Garcia said.

An estimated 13,230.12 hectares of banana plantations were devastated in Davao del Norte alone, according to initial reports of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Center (PDRRMC).

According to the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), another 10,000 hectares of banana plantations were also damaged in Compostela Valley province.

Rehabilitation costs, the PBGEA said, will amount to P500,000 per hectare. In all, some P11.615 billion may be needed to rehabilitate 23,230 hectares of storm-damaged farmlands.

The estimated damage is still expected to rise as other banana farmers are yet to report the damage brought on by typhoon “Pablo” to their plantation.

The banana industry is already reeling from huge losses due to the quarantine sanctions imposed by China.

This recent blow caused by typhoon Pablo completes the picture of a devastated banana industry in the Philippines.

The Department of Agrarian Reform said agrarian reform beneficiaries owned most of the lands and only about 8,000 hectares of destroyed farms were operated and managed by members of the association.

The PBGEA said rampaging floods and strong winds displaced an estimated 93,000 banana farm workers.

The number of workers who depend on this industry is bigger, considering that there are other allied industries dependent on bananas for export.