MANILA: There’s no oversupply in mango production in the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA) assured Monday, following the viral online post of mango being disposed of in San Mateo, Isabela.

“Not necessarily oversupply, pero ito iyong panahon ng (but this is the season of) peak harvest,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa explained in an interview.

“Iyong mga nakita niyo sa video, halos sira na, bulok na, o maliit na. Ito na iyong mga huling bahagi siguro ng harvest (What you saw in the video, it’s almost spoiled, rotten, or small. This may be the latter part of the harvest),” he added.

De Mesa, however, said that mango farmers could have responded to the earlier offer of the DA-Cagayan Valley region for deployment assistance, instead of posting the disposal.

He urged farmers to coordinate with local DA field offices for the deployment of trucks and avoid wastage.

“Paki-usap namin sa kanila, pwedeng i-coordinate sa LGU (local government unit), sa aming mga municipal and city agricultur
ists, i-coordinate natin sa region (We ask them to coordinate with LGUs, our municipal and city agriculturists, coordinate in the region),” De Mesa said.

The farmgate price of mango, meanwhile, continues to drop amid the peak harvest season.

From PHP30 to PHP55 per kilo, the farmgate price now ranges from PHP10/kg to PHP15/kg.

Source: Philippines News Agency