A local executive from Davao del Norte has called on the Filipino national government to help small-scale banana farmers address the onslaught of Fusarium wilt or Panama disease. Mayor Roland Dejesica said the Panama disease has reached alarming levels, forcing farmers to shift to corn and endangering the long term viability of the town's banana industry.
According to Dejesica, the town of Santo Tomas accounts for at least 70 percent of the total banana planted areas in Davao del Norte. About half of that area, he said, has been converted as corn plantation. For that he reason, he warned, the province's billion dollar earner commodity of the province is on the brink of dying, because the Fusarium wilt has not yet been thoroughly addressed.
"We already asked the national government to look at our banana industry situation. We hope that they will extend help," Dejesica said. He asks for the government to establish a research center, in order to study and understand the causes of Panama disease.
Source: pna.gov.ph