About Davao Industry Clusters Capacity Enhancement Project

Davao Region has adopted Industry Clustering Strategy in 2005 as the major economic development strategy and has chosen eight priority industry clusters. With the support of JICA, the Davao Industry Cluster Competence Enhancement Project (DICCEP), a three-year capacity building will be provided starting May 2008 for the industry cluster teams, lead agencies and private sector leaders as well as frontline staff doing SME development. The course involves an overview of industry cluster approach as well as other industry development strategies applied around the globe, team management approaches, SME promotion, revisiting of the existing industry cluster plans and workshop  on action plans to be implemented.

DICCEP JCC Meeting

The DICCEP Joint Coordinating Committee (DICCEP-JCC), composed of designated officials from the Japanese  and Philippine Covernments, serves as the overseer of the Project. The Regional Directors of Davao Cluster Lead Agencies, representatives of the DTI Regional Operations and Development Group, Bureau of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (BSMED) and  and President of the Mindanao Business Council   comprise the Philippine side of the JCC.

Economist says Davao is best area for industry clustering

DAVAO CITY — An economics expert from the University of the Philippines has cited Region 11 as the best region in the country for industry clustering.

“The entrepreneurial spirit is very strong in Davao and it contributes to the success of clustering selected industries,” the UP economics development specialist Jose Tabbada said.

Tabbada said this strategy is being used in many developed countries for cutting costs of doing business, sharing facilities and raw materials and enjoying better access to markets.

He said the strong entrepreneur culture in Davao has helped the region grow by leaps and bounds over the years.

Tabbada was impressed by the support given by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), city mayors, governors and other government agencies in the region.

The chances of industry clustering succeeding in the Philippines, is far greater in Mindanao than in Luzon, Tabbada said during the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP) Workshop here recently.

Some of the successful industry clusters that have grown during the last few years, as mentioned by Tabbada are the vegetable clusters of Northern Luzon, the sardines industry cluster of Dipolog, the food processing industry cluster of Caraga and the furniture industry cluster in Cebu.

The UP professor said there are seven promising industry clusters considered as having the best chances to succeed in Region 11 than anywhere else in the country. These are the banana industry cluster, mango industry cluster, seaweeds industry cluster, wood industry cluster, mining industry cluster, ecotourism cluster, and the ICT industry cluster.

Meanwhile, Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said the business upbeat and entrepreneurial spirit of Davao can be attributed to the right business environment provided by the local governments and supported by government agencies.

On the other hand, the chief adviser of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) lauded the all-out support of the key players for the industry clustering program in the region.

Tetsuo Inooka has admired the high level of interest among the top managers of Davao industries and government agencies on the program to develop and strengthen industry clusters in the region.

JICA has joined the DTI in conducting the recent DICCEP training workshop here.

Manila Bulletin Online Sept 6, 2008
By BEN D. ARCHE  

 

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2008/09/06/PROV20080906134444.html

Small Mindanao banana players boost up

SMALL banana farmers all over Mindanao growing all kinds of bananas like cavendish, cardaba, lakatan, binangay, etc. are set to band together as one “industry cluster” to avoid being cheated by low buying prices of traders, consolidators, and multinational exporters.Ireneo Dalayon, chief executive officer of the Federation of Banana Cooperatives in Mindanao (Fedco), said the time has come for all small banana farmers in Mindanao to unite as “one strong industry cluster” and get the courage to start dictating their own banana prices instead of being shortchanged all the time by the industry’s big players.

Dalayon is one of the participants of the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Program (Diccep) jointly undertaken this year by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and the region’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Banana Cluster session

The program was designed to boost the productivity of various Davao industries like banana industry, mango industry, seaweed industry, as well as wood, mining, tourism, and information technology industries.

As head of Mindanao’s biggest federation of banana coops now supplying the fruit to multinational firm Unifruitti, Dalayon is now urging all banana farmers in this southern island producing all kinds of bananas, to join the newly formed group called the Mindanao Banana Growers and Exporters Association (MBGEA).

This new organization will be the farmer’s counterpart to the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), which is run ironically by foreigners and multinationals — Dole, Del Monte, United Fruit, Sumitomo who are the big players in the banana industry, according to Dalayon.

“This is the only way we can fight back as banana farmers to get better prices for our fruit,” said Dalayon who also runs his own small cavendish banana farm.
As a well-organized group, we’ll have the bargaining power to dictate our own prices to all buyers of bananas.”

Fedco for many years had been supplying fresh cavendish bananas to Dole Stanfilco which packs the fruit under the “Dole” label. Last year, the federation junked the supply deal with Dole at renewal time and switched to a new, better pricing deal with Unifrutti which packs the fruit under the “United Fruit” label, according to lawyer Koronado Apuzen, chairman of Farmcoop, management arm of Fedco.

 

 

 

 

 

Aurelio Peña, Contributor

Davao seaweed farmers reap bonanza from high prices

DAVAO CITY (Sept 26) —-     Despite its small-scale production, Davao seaweed farmers are

reaping a big bonanza from the current high prices of dried seaweeds.

      Araceli Exclamador, Davao del Sur government fisheries coordinator said the buying price

of P90 a kilo for dried seaweeds in recent weeks is the highest price in the history of the

seaweed industry. “This is the highest price ever paid for raw dried seaweeds by traders

desperately looking for more supply of this commodity,” Exclamador said during a recent seminar

workshop for the region’s seaweed industry cluster jointly sponsored by the Department of

Trade and Industry and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

      Exclamador said the high buying price is caused by the acute lack of dried seaweeds

supply available for processing plants in Cebu which turn the seaweeds into carrageenan

powder, a gelling and blending agent with multiple uses in the production of hundreds of

consumer and industrial products worldwide.

      “Foreign buyers from Indonesia, Korea and China are buying the dried seaweeds directly

from the big growers and traders in Tawi-tawi, Sulu, Zamboanga, Basilan and Davao to supply

the raw material requirements of their own carrageenan plants overseas,” Exclamador told fellow

participants of the DTI-JICA seminar workshop.

Davao Seaweeds Cluster Workshop

      The average buying prices for dried seaweeeds in recent years range from P25 to P35 a

kilo, while in the late 1980′s, the average price was only around P15 a kilo, the Digos provincial

coordinator said.

      Davao region’s seaweed production racked up 866 metric tons during the first quarter this

DICCEP session

year, a whopping 42 percent increase compared to last year’s 609 metric tons during the same

period, according to data from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic resources.(BFAR).

     The seaweed production of Davao del Sur also doubled from 354 netric tons last year to 703

etirc tons, but these production figures compared to major seaweed growers in eastern Mindanao

are relatively small and show more potentials for future growth, according to BFAR.

      One small-scale seaweed farmer who benefited most from higher prices this year was Filemon

Augusto, 53, of Badiang village in Digos, Davao del Sur who made his living entirely from growing

seaweeds since the 1980′s. Earnings from his seaweed farm rose steadily over the years until he

was able to build his own bungalow beside the sea near his seaweed farm,  On top of this, Augusto

was able to pay for all the school expenses of his five children with two of them ending up as

professionals, one a teacher, the other a civil engineer, according to Exclamador.

      All the 15 seaweed producers and 76 seaweed farms in Tawi-tawi, Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga

can harvest only about 135,000 metric tons of seaweeds, hardly enough to meet the annual demand

of 170,000 metric tons, leaving most of Cebu’s carrageenan plants operating under capacity or even

shutting down entirely due to the dwindling supply of seaweeds, according to Oscar Monsalez,

president of the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP).

      Global demand for carrageenan is growing at 5 percent annually in major world markets as

European Union, US and Canada. New carrageenan plants in EU and China are expected to boost

the demand for more raw materials—– dried seaweeds from southeast Asia. The Philippines, as one

of the world’s biggest seaweed exporter, is in a position to meet this rising demand, according to SIAP.

      Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said Mindanao is the best place for growing and propagating

seaweeds because the island is free from typhoons and most of the island’s long coastlines are just

waiting to be tapped for large-scale seaweed production. “There’s still a lot more potential for seaweed

production in Mindanao which is contributing 60 percent of the total seaweed output in the country—–

we can do more. Hundreds of farmers and their families will be benefited if we open up more areas

for seaweed farming in Mindanao,” Cruz said.

     Despite its current problems of low production, the seaweed industry is still contributing 250

million US dollars to the Philippine economy, DTI data shows.

Aurelio Pena, Contributor

                                                               

Table salt seen to boost growth of RP coconut industry

Salt, that common food seasoning one finds in a kitchen table, may just save the Philippine coconut industry from further decline.

     The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has proven in several tests some years back that

salt (sodium chloride or common table salt) is the cheapest and one of the most effective

organic fertilizer for coconuts readily available in the market.

     Coconut industry stakeholders in southern Mindanao are now urging the government to

promote massive salt farming nationwide in a strategic move to increase salt production in

the Philippines.

     Industry movers now participating in the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement

Project (DICCEP) jointly sponsored by the region’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are pushing for massive salt production all over

the country to make salt readily available to all coconut farmers as cheap organic fertilizer to

boost more coconut production.

     “Why don’t we put up salt beds nationwide to supply the salt as fertilizers to all coconut

farmers ?”  was one of the suggestions put across by  the region’s coconut cluster group

during the month-long DICCEP seminar workshop in Davao. This was raised by PCA provincial

officer Juvy Alayon and immediately carried by the industry cluster group as a long-term

strategy to boost Mindanao’s coconut production.

      According to PCA projections, the copra production in Mindanao is still very low and

expected to reach 7.5 million metric tons which is only about 55 percent of the projected

demand of 13.7 million metric tons of copra for the period covering 2004-2010.

      The PCA said Davao oil mills, for instance, are only producing 66 percent of their total

capacity as the region failed to cope with the supply requirements for copra due to the

region’s low farm production and shrinking coconut farm areas.

      This was confirmed by company spokesperson Adela Tamparong of Asia Pacific Oil,

one of the industry’s stakeholders participating in the industry cluster workshop. “We’ve

lost our buyers from US and Europe. We’re only exporting our coconut oil to Korea, Japan

and China,” Tamparong said.

       Low yields of coconuts from many coconut plantations in Mindanao, has been blamed

for the alarming low copra production in this part of the country.

       Chlorine deficiency, according to PCA, is widespread in many inland coconut farms

and salt is the ” cheapest and best source of fertilizer for coconut.”  The PCA said some 40

coconut producing areas in the country, including Mindanao, are seriously affected by

chlorine deficiency.

      In a series of tests made in 1991-1997, hundreds of selected coconut farmers used

salt to fertilize 170,000 hectares of coconut farms nationwide, totalling 18 million coconut

trees. Final results revealed by the PCA show all the coconut farms fertilized with salt

harvested 125 percent more coconuts.

     Salt production in the Philippines however, is still too small, estimated around 160,000

to 220,000 metric tons annually, compared to the world’s top salt suppliers like the US

(46 million mt), China (37million mt), India (15 million mt), and Canada (14 million mt),

according to industry sources.

      This limited salt production has forced the Philippines to import salt from India, Australia

and Jordan. Recently, the country imported 400,000 mteric tons of salt from India to cope

with the demands of various industries. Most of the salt production in the country are

concentrated in the salt farms of Pangasinan, Bulacan and Mindoro Occidental.

      Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz hopes to see a more robust growth of the coconut

industry and cited the JICA training seminar for enhancing the capacity of stakeholders

in the coconut industry to identify critical problems and suggesting good solutions.

      “Global demand for coconuts is still strong as ever, because of its many uses—– oil from

copra, activated carbon from its shells, coco fiber and peat from its husks, health drink from

its coco water, handicrafts from its leaves and many others. Even the emergence of biodiesel

will spur a huge demand for more coconuts. It’s significant to note that suggestions and

solutions at the DICCEP workshops are coming up to boost the growth of this industry.”

Cruz said.

                                                   

 - Aurelio Pena

Davao farmers urge to exploit coco industry’s potentials, stakeholders

 

DAVAO CITY, Oct. 2 -– Davao farmers are being encouraged to plant more coconut trees due to the increasing demand for coconut products’ in the world market, Pete Alagcan, chair of the Coconut Industry Cluster of the Davao Region said.

Alagcan said the vast opportunities the coconut industry can offer must be considered by farmers.

“Just imagine that a five-year-old coconut tree, fruit-bearing already. And the life span of coconut is between 50 to 60 years old,” Alagcan said.

Alagcan said the average production per hectare of coconut farm is pegged at two metric tons annually.

Moreover, he said the production of copra alone can already give huge income to the farmers especially that only P7 is incurred as farm input in order to produce a kilogram of copra.

To date, copra’s buying price is pegged at an average of P31 per kilogram.

“This is just temporary. By January, the buying price will recover again,” Alagcan said.

During January until June this year, Alagcan said, copra’s buying price was at P40 per kilogram.

Among the primary products derived from coconut are coconut oil, desiccated coconut and copra while by-products include copra meal, activated carbon, coconut shell charcoal and coconut coir and coir dust.

Alagcan said only 20 percent of coconut production goes to the local market while the 80 percent goes directly to the export market.

As of end 2007, coconut products were among the top ten export commodities of Davao Region.

“In fact, activated carbon/charcoal/dust/briquettes ranked number five with 33.2 million US dollars export value, showing a surge of 14.88 percent as compared to its value a year ago,” he said.

Meanwhile, desiccated coconut chips was at number six with an export value of 13.9 million US dollars or 56.18 percent increase from its 2006 figure.

Positioning at number nine was the sub-sector of coconut oil/acid/cake/liquor, a new entrant to the top ten, valued at 7 million US dollars.

“The future of the industry is really bright only if we exploit all the opportunities that we can get out of coconut farming,” he said.Alagcan cited the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP) as one mechanism to foster a more robust outlook for the region’s coconut industry.

“This is one venue where we get to share different information among farmers and processors. With DICCEP, we are able to sit down and discuss measures for the development of the local coconut industry,” Alagcan concluded.

DICCEP is a project of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Davao which is aimed at capacitating the Davao Region’s eight Industry Clusters, namely, banana, mango, coconut, seaweed, mining, wood, tourism, and information and communications technology (ICT). (PNA)October 2, 2008 9:45 pm

 

DICCEP Workshop

City steps up plans to lure ICT locators

 

DAVAO City has the key parameters in positioning itself as the ICT hub of the South.

Lizabel “Wit” Holganza, president of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Davao Inc., said the synergy among the stakeholders is one vital factor that will further boost the region’s ICT industry.

Holganza, who also sits as the chairperson of the ICT Industry Cluster of Davao Region, added that with this solid tie between public and private sectors, the strengths of the region as a business hub would be strengthened further.

“We can’t deny the fact that the isolated conflicts in Mindanao are a threat to our competitiveness. We are now faced with a challenge, the challenge to convince investors that indeed Davao is the best potential business location,” she said.

Holganza said that with the help of the trainings conducted by the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP), the strengths of the city and the other potential ICT destinations in the region are being harped on.

ICT Cluster at DICCEP

“In this particular training (conducted last September 12 at the Apo View Hotel), for instance, different government agencies and private organizations are gathered together. I think this is a positive sign that the stakeholders are keen on responding to the requirements set by the locators,” she said.

The ICT Cluster planning session, Holganza added, was actually a “move towards creating a sound and doable plan especially that all sectors are represented, from the academe to government agencies to business organizations.”

Holganza cited the world-class facilities and highly competent workforce of Davao as its competitive advantages in order to lure ICT locators.

“We are proud to say that we are making our manpower employment-ready,” she said.

ICT Cluster workshop

 

 

 

 

 

She stressed on the important attributes of the city as it bids to become the “ICT Hub of the South”, such as: it was declared as an IT Hub in the Philippines by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) per Memorandum 05-05-200; it gained high marks (82 out of 90 points) from the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) being an attractive ICT investment location; and it was proclaimed “Most Competitive City in the Philippines” for 2007 (Urban Category), with the lowest cost of doing business based on the competitiveness survey conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

“These are just few of the many reasons why Davao is the best investment destination, not just for ICT but also for other investments,” Holganza said.

 

- Jenny Mendoza

2009 DICCEP Calendar

The Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP) – Project Management Office has put together some insights, learnings and snapshots taken during the trainings and workshops to be highlighted in a 2009 DICCEP Table Calendar.

 

2009 DICCEP Calendar

The calendar cum brochure will be given as token for the participants and partners who have supported the project. It features a digest on the first four training modules. It also presents the vision, goals and mission of each industry cluster as output of the workshops and planning, which is up for further validation and adoption in Module 5 – Cluster Workshop. It also states  the DICCEP schedule for January and February for the information and guidance of the participants.  

Planner for DICCEP sessions

Calendar cum brochure

RP banana farmers to cut fertilizer costs

 by Aurelio A. Pena

DAVAO CITY  (Nov 30) —- Banana farmers here are now looking into the possibility of by-passing the complex multiple-layers of retailers, traders, dealers, wholesalers, brokers, distributors, etc, etc. who are all being blamed for making fertilizers and other farm inputs the most expensive commodities for farmers in the Philippines.

            “This has got to stop—- all our earnings in banana growing are almost wiped out by our expenses on very costly fertilizers and other farm inputs,” says Rene Dalayon, chief executive officer of the Federation of Banana Farm Cooperatives or FEDCO.

            Dalayon said angry farmers in Mindanao and elsewhere in the country are getting fed up with traders, retailers, dealers and everyone else in the marketing chain that has made fertilizers and farm inputs so expensive, the cost is eating up nearly 80 percent of farmers’ earnings everywhere.

            “We can’t let this go on and let farmers suffer—-we’re planning some specific moves to solve this problem and bring down the cost of fertilizers,” Dalayon said during the final planning workshop of the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP), a joint project of the Department of Trade and Industry and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

            One suggestion that was accepted and adopted by the banana industry cluster group was the setting up of a materials purchasing company to be owned by a strong, well-organized and well-managed farmers’ cooperative whose primary function is to buy fertilizers and other farm inputs in bulk or in large quantities at discount prices direct from importers or manufacturers.

            “We’re looking at this idea very closely and see how we can set up a buying company and run it efficiently for the benefit of farmers who will own this company,” says Dalayon who led the workshop discussions for the banana industry group during the recent DICCEP-JICA workshop at the Men Seng Hotel this city.

            Japanese industry expert Tetsuo Inooka  of JICA said he supports this plan by the banana farmers to set up their own purchasing firm to buy farm inputs and other materials in large quantities—the combined requirements of all farmers—- directly from the source, which could be the manufacturing plant itself.

            “It’s a good idea that could be developed further into a specific business project proposal by the banana industry group for possible funding,” Inooka said.

            Department of Trade and Industry XI Regional Director Marizon Loreto expressed optimism that the final planning stages of the DICCEP workshops will produce specific business plans and proposals from each industry group like seaweeds, mango, wood, ICT, tourism, mining and bananas. ” We would like to see these industry groups moving to the final stages of planning and execution of various projects to boost the production capacity of each industry, cut down costs and improve the quality of our products for the global market,” Loreto said.

—- PHILPRESS FEATURES   

Re-tooling Cluster Coordinators

Cluster development is a journey.

It is a journey that will continue to evolve for each cluster, with no end point in sight. And it’s a journey that does make innovations on the way government and BDS provide services,  that does make difference to the wealth of our communities as the capacities of cluster teams are enhanced and their competitiveness is upgraded. Finally, it does make the geographic reach of the cluster extended to the more geographic reach – provinces, regions, and overseas. 

 

Role of Cluster Coordinators and Facilitators

As Cluster coordinators and facilitators (or Pointpersons, secretariat, etc.), we provide the delicate process of  putting the stakeholders together, offer neutral meeting ground which may unveil key issues and opportunities for cluster enhancement. The DICCEP somehow provides us a vehicle for said journey and safe travel, I suppose. We can say that this is our contribution as the cluster convenor.

 

The direction of the journey, however, is set by the cluster leadership particularly by the private sector.  And the strategies, projects and activities how to reach the set destination and achieve certain goals are also laid down in the Cluster Action Plan as revised, resulting from the DICCEP Workshops. How and how soon each industry clusters improve the operation of cluster initiatives and move to next level in the cluster life cycle, depends on the application of our learnings and the interplay of the elements we learned in Modules 1 and 3 (Team Management and Facilitation).

 

In general, our role as cluster coordinators and facilitators has been to assist the cluster team, particularly the lead agency to identify cluster leadership and cluster members with crucial role or stake in the value chain. We also provided technical support in the industry analysis, strategy formulation and project identification, a process carefully blended with Japanese discipline and patience in DICCEP sessions and workshops.

 

As the DICCEP winds up the intensive sessions and workshops, we prepare for the adoption process of the revised Industry Cluster Action Plan and the projects proposals for selected priority projects.

 

The DICCEP Project Team has set forth the following Revised Cluster Plan adoption process:

 

1)     Module 2 Follow-up Workshop (last week January): Finalization (Some clusters are ready though to adopt  their Action in this stage)

 

2)     Module 5 (1^st week February) – Adoption of the Cluster Plan and

        Proposed Project Proposals

      For the adoption, it should be approved by the Cluster Chair (minimum),   

      and by the cluster members

 

3)     Presentation to EDC for approval of the Cluster Plan – 1^st or 2^nd week of March

 

4)     Presentation to JCC (Philippine side) – March

5)     Presentation to JICA – February – March

 

6)     Cluster Team Meeting  - Dissemination of the Cluster Plan

(the need and date to be determined by each Cluster)

 

We are expected to assist the clusters to put the needed documents together, although the results of the workshops (from the visioning, SWOT, Action Plan, and Fish Bone, etc.) will be provided by the PMO. The last critical element of the revised plan is the need to update the governing Cluster Structure, a structure with membership more appropriate for the industry.

 

Again, the extent of specific roles and responsibilities of cluster coordinators and facilitators differ from cluster to cluster, as it would be driven by the needs and gaps. This depends on the industry’s level of cluster development,  private sector leadership and cluster team members participation,  as well as their openness and acceptance to share the workloads. 

  

“There is a room for governments to show greater entrepreneurial acumen and zeal in providing support to clusters… Governments should seek out clusters participants and proactively understand their needs at a time when early action can have a transformative impact.” Michael Porter & Roger Martin, 2001

 

 

 

 

Better mango prices seen

Farmers told to synchronize growing, harvesting

By BEN D. ARCHE

September 4, 2009, 3:41pm

MATI, Davao Oriental – Mango growers in Davao Oriental province met here recently to tackle important issues that would stabilize prices of mango in Davao Region.

At least 30 mango farmers here and in the town of Banaybanay have talked to the mango industry cluster team led by Antonio Teh of the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (Diccep) on synchronizing the growing and harvesting of mango in the province.

According to Teh, there is a need to get together and agree on having different time schedules for growing and harvesting of mango.

“Synchronizing the production of mango will make some mango farmers induce the flowering of the fruit at a certain time, while others are into different stages of fruit growth,” Teh said.

He explained this would ensure that all mango plantations will not harvest the fruit at the same time.

The cluster team will also conduct similar meetings with all other mango growers and farmers in Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, Island Garden City of Samal, Davao City and Davao del Sur in the coming months.

Low buying prices by traders and mango processors gripped the mango farmers in the region for years since they all harvest their mangoes almost at the same time, creating an oversupply in the local market.

Teh also said that mango growers want to export their fruit, but many of them find it very difficult to reach this goal because of the very high standards of export-quality mango.

Haunted by low production and low quality, Teh said most of the growers sell their fruit to domestic traders and fruit processors, who in turn, will process their mangoes into dried mango, mango concentrated juice and mango puree.

Meanwhile, an industrial consultant of a foreign funding agency has eyed some bright market opportunities for mango farmers who are engaged in growing and production of dwarf carabao mangoes in Davao Region.

Tetsuo Inooka, senior industrial adviser of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said that mango farmers devoting their efforts to improve the productivity and quality of dwarf mangoes to big carabao mangoes have bright future in their venture.

As this developed, Inooka urged the mango farmers in the region to unite as one strong group in order to solve its problems in production and growing of good quality mangoes from dwarf trees.

He said the global market for mangoes in Japan, US, Europe and other places worldwide is so vast and has not been yet fully tapped due to low production of this fruit.