By YOLANDA Z. SOTELO

SINCE it’s raining hard and there’s no inspiration to write a column, please bear with me, Read the story, which I wrote originally as a news story, and get bored in the process.

Seen those mango trees marked with USDA? Don’t fear. It’s not something to be afraid of. It just means there’s a chance that the United States will open its market to Philippine mangoes, specifically Pangasinan mangoes.

Remember that Pangasinan mangoes are of the sweetish kind. And the United States really wants to have a taste of it whenever its mango season, but they are afraid of this teeny-weeny insect called weevils.

Weevils, like Filipinos, can easily adjust to any environment – cold, hot, warm, tepid. So the US agricultural department is deathly afraid that once mangoes with weevils enter their land, weevils will wreak havoc to their agriculture.

Thus, they’re checking every tree in Pangasinan to find out if these are clear of this insect. If free, then it would be happy days for the mango producers from the province. And there are many of them.

Now, here’re details of that project:

The United States may open its market to Philippine mangoes, with that country’s agriculture department funding a survey to find out which mango-producing areas have no incidence of mango seed and pulp weevils.

Provincial Agriculturist Joe Almendares said the project titled enhancing the export competitiveness of the Philippine super mango is being undertaken by the US Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Plant Industry.

“Areas found to be free from the pest will be issued a weevil-free certification and their produce can be accepted to the United States , but these should also be free of banned chemicals like chlorpyrifos and cypermetrin which are used as pesticides,” Almendares said.

As of present, only mangoes produced in Guimaras province are accepted in the US . Pangasinan, the biggest mango producer province in the country, is also able to export to the US but on a very limited scale, he said.

The project will be conducted for 10 months or two fruiting season – October to January and January to April. Every part of the trees such as the bark, leaves, flowers and fruits, will be tested every month.

“After 10 months, we will know if Pangasinan is included in the list of provinces which can export to the United States ,” Almendares said. While there are no weevil infestations reported in Pangasinan, the province still has to pass the United States Department of Agriculture’s screening, he noted

There are 14,850 mango trees being monitored in the different towns of the province. These sample trees should be protected by the owners and contractors who are also from Pangasinan, Almendares said

He explained that since the province is the number one mango producer in the country, there must be focal villages that should be identified for monitoring, not only for weevil-free infestation but the total non-application of banned pesticides.

The USDA survey is currently being undertaken in Luzon , but surveys will also be conducted in the Visayas and Mindanao , he added.

It will be recalled that two years ago, trainings were conducted for agriculture officers from the Ilocos Region on mango production and integrated pest management.

The Philippine mango, considered in western countries as an exotic tropical fruit, is fast gaining popularity worldwide. It is the third biggest dollar earning fruit next to banana and pineapple.
But competition from other countries has led to stricter international standard controls for mango and the fruits produced in Pangasinan and the other Ilocos provinces have yet to meet quality standards demanded by the United States .

Governor Victor Agbayani has formed technical working groups to study the problems affecting the mango industry, such as lack of policy advocacy, lack of mango specialist training, poor or slow transfer or adoption of technology, lack of mango information network and massive spraying of potassium nitrate.