DA eyes P129-M US food grant to fund study on irradiation

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is planning to tap a P129-million food grant from the United States to bankroll a feasibility study on mango irradiation technology.

Irradiation is the preferred treatment for mangoes shipped to the US and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made this one of the conditions for allowing Philippine mango exporters to source their supply from areas outside of the quarantined Guimaras Island in Western Visayas.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said he has instructed concerned agencies to fasttrack the study and have this funded under Section 416 of the US Agricultural Act of 1949.

The USDA earlier agreed to fund the country’s shift to irradiation technology from the current practice of treating mangoes through vapor heat treatment (VHT).

Lorenzo said the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) have drafted various research proposals meant to enhance the export competitiveness of Philippine mangoes and to evaluate the applicability of irradiation technology to local farm products.

One proposal is the determination of an effective irradiation dose which could kill plant pests like fruit fly and mango pulp weevil without harming the fruit and reducing its quality.

BPI Director Hernani Golez said food irradiation technology is increasingly becoming an accepted sanitary and phytosanitary procedure among quarantine officers abroad. He added that Japan and some European countries however, still prefer the VHT which many Philippine fruit exporters use.

"Some countries find the VHT we apply on our export mangoes and other fruits acceptable but we also see irradiation as an option because it can enhance the export competitiveness of our local produce," Golez said.

The Philippines exported over $30 million worth of fresh mangoes last year. The biggest markets are Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.