Bataan SP oks commodity investment plan for mango

BALANGA CITY, Bataan – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) has approved the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan for mango to enhance agricultural productivity and competitiveness of the worlds’ best-selling tropical fruit.
Board Member Benjamin C. Serrano, Jr., chair of SP Committee on Agriculture, food and fisheries and proponent of Resolution No. 390 has cited the 6-year program of the Philippine Development Program designed to establish the government platform for a modern, climate-smart and market-oriented agri-fishery sector which focuses on expanding market access and improving competitiveness while introducing reforms in the internal operations of the Department of Agriculture.
Under this program, the World Bank provides 75%, the national government (13%), Local Government Units (11%) and the Global Environment Facility (1%) of the PRDP funds.
The PRDP will forge partnership with government units and private sector in providing key infrastructure, facilities, technology and information that will increase incomes, productivity and competitiveness in the countryside.
The proposed initial projects for farm to market roads for mango in Hermosa town that span 5.22 kilometers and 8.40 kilometers in Orion town are scheduled to start this year.
BM Serrano stressed the program contributes to inclusive growth by unleashing the economic potential of rural producers by investing in targeted, climate resilient agri-based enterprises identified in ground validated Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIP) linked to national commodity road maps.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist has recorded that out of a total land area of 5,513 hectares planted to mango in eleven municipalities and one component city, about 60,000 metric tons production per harvest and involving 3,416 farmers in mango orchard.