Guimaras mangoes are touted as the sweetest in the world, thus the demand for it in local and international markets is high, which helped boost the economy of the province of Guimaras.
These
mangoes are served in Buckingham Palace and the White House. This sweet and succulent fruit was also featured
in Magnolia Ice Cream’s Best of the Philippines through their Mangoes and Cream
and Mangga’t Kasoy ice cream flavors.
Guimaras
mangoes’ seeds and pulp were also confirmed to be weevil free by the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service- United States Department of Agriculture
(APHIS-USDA) and Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
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| Photo by Geffrey Ian V. Galvez |
FEATURES OF GUIMARAS’
CARABAO MANGO
The
mango variety in focus is the carabao mango, considered to be one of the best
varieties because of its tender taste and slight aroma.
Originally
from the Indo-Burma region which includes India, Burma and Malaya, the fruit is
elongated and oblong-shaped which weighs about 270 to 440 grams and with thin
and yellow pulp. Its flesh is yellow in color, very tender and melting with a
delicate aromatic flavor while the fiber is medium-coarse, short and is almost
cramped to the seed’s edge. Its tree has a coarse, large and conical trunk with
shallow and small cracks on the bark. It bears flowers as early as October
while the fruit is available from November to June.
Carabao
mangoes have different varieties including Talaban, Fresco, Guimaras Super
(Galila), JTA Sweet, GES73, 77 84, 85 and Tanaleon. Galila is known as the
“sweetest mango in the world” because it has a Total Soluble Solid (TSS) of 22˚
Brix.
GROWTH AND
PRODUCTION
According
to the Value Chain Analysis Report of the Guimaras Provincial Office for
Agricultural Services (POAS), carabao mangoes are grown in all of the
province’s five municipalities, namely; Jordan, Buenavista, Nueva Valencia, San
Lorenzo and Sibunag. These towns comprise 60,457 hectares wherein 92.84% or 56,127
hectares are dedicated to agriculture. Out of this, about 16% is dedicated to
mango plantations which as of 2014, had 274,822 mango trees.
The
years 2006 and 2007 remained as the peak of mango production in the province,
largely because of demand for mangoes from growing companies like Dole
Philippines, DHM, Hi-Las Marketing Inc., Diamond Star, and Lapanday Foods Inc.
From
2008 to 2013, the province of Guimaras’ mango industry posted an average growth
of 5.99% with 10,025.68 MT produced in 2014. This is because of the support of
the Provincial Government through the Provincial Office for Agricultural
Services and the Department of Agriculture RFU VI-HVCDP Program on Mango
Industry Interventions that provided mango growers with mango flower inducers
and power sprayers. The provision of inputs was channeled through the Guimaras
Mango Growers and Producers Development Cooperative.
There
are 7,482 mango growers in Guimaras. The Oro Verde Mango Plantation and
Guimaras Tree Farm are the largest and are located in Buenavista. Oro Verde
alone spans 237.016 hectares with more than 18,000 grafted mango trees. That is
approximately 13% of the total mango trees in the municipality.
The
second largest mango plantation is Southern Orchard, located in Ravina,
Sibunag. It spans 220 hectares with 14,000 grafted mango. That is almost 39% of
the total mango population in Sibunag.
Guimaras’
mango production comprises 21% of Western Visayas’ total production, 60% is
contributed by backyard growers while the 40% is produced by orchard. About 70%
of the production is sold fresh while 30% is sold to local processors.
MANGO PROCESSING
Where
there are mangoes, there are by-products that provide more variety to consumers
who want to try the sweetness in different forms. These are sold in grocery
stores all around Western Visayas and very popular as pasalubong items.
There
are 11 mango processors in Guimaras who engage in this trade. They are the McNester
Food Products (Buenavista), Trappist Monastic Products (Jordan), Guimaras Bests
(Jordan), Boboy Delicacies (Jordan), Merlys Delicacies (Jordan), Daday’s
(Jordan), The Pitstop (Jordan), GNP (Jordan), Guimaras Wonders (Jordan),
Rochemar (Jordan) and DS The Real Sweets (Sibunag). The products are mango
achara, drink concentrates and puree, ketchup, dried mango, mango piaya,
barquillo de mangga, butterscotch, mango hopia and mango pizza among others.
POLICY SUPPORT
An Ordinance regulating the harvesting
and sale of immature mango fruits intended for table ripe consumption was
promulgated in 2011 to maintain the status of the Province of Guimaras as the
producer of the sweetest and the best quality mangoes.
EXPORT
In 2002, about 2.4% of the total mango
production was allocated for export. Guimaras’ carabao mangoes were exported to
Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, USA and Australia.
However, in 2008-2010, there was zero exportation
due to La Niña that resulted to a reduction in production by 38%. Additionally,
some mango trees needed rehabilitation because of poor orchard management
practices in terms of fertilization and pruning.
Export resumed in Australia in 2011,
stopped in 2012 and resumed in 2013 until the present.
Players in the Guimaras mango industry
envisioned a globally competitive fresh mango produce as there are more international
markets to tap, such as the top 10 mango importers – USA, Netherlands, China,
Germany, Hongkong, United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, France and Spain.
This was confirmed by European Union
(EU) Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen in an article published in the Manila
Bulletin recently. “There is indeed a market for Guimaras mangoes,” said Jessen.
The news article also mentioned that
the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is working to provide
Guimaras fresh mangoes with geographical branding and that Jessen replied: "GI
tagging is meant to associate the mangoes with Guimaras province, which can
also bring a domino effect in terms of other trade opportunities with EU’s
28-member states.”
Indeed, with the continued empowerment, production of good quality
fruits and adherence to equitable marketing systems, Guimaras’ mango industry
can compete in the global market and further boost its economy and lure more tourists
in the island-province.
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