The Filipino island province of Guimaras is known to produce one of the world’s sweetest varieties of mangoes. Only recently, Nelson Ynion, a retired ship captain and president of the American Association of Western Visayas , proposed the construction of processing plants to facilitate the island’s growers.
“That’s why we are calling for processing plants to be built,” said Ynion who spearheaded a private sector initiative to establish an economic zone in Guimaras. He reiterated that Guimaras will lag behind if it cannot sell its products to a wider market.
Growers of the fruit have suffered a slump during the pandemic. “Planting and harvesting mangoes is a very expensive process. The financial losses become bigger when the product cannot be sold and it will rot,” Ynion told mb.com.ph.
Ynion, who has helmed cargo ships that transport products worldwide, said there has to be a way to make by-products. “We have to think of shelf life and concerns. Mangoes only have a certain shelf life,” Ynion explained.
Aside from mango, Guimaras has farmlands that produce coconut milk, jackfruit, bamboo shoot, pineapple, peanuts, cashew nuts, and calamansi.
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