Major fruit crops post production declines in Q1

MANILA, Philippines — Production of the country’s major fruit crops, except for pineapple, declined in the first quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

In its latest major fruit crops quarterly bulletin, the PSA said mango posted the largest production decline, dropping by four percent to 94,998 metric tons (MT).

Carabao mango accounted for the bulk or 82.3 percent of the total production with 77,345 MT.

The Ilocos region was the top producer of mango in the first quarter with a total of 44,871 MT, accounting for 47.7 percent of the total mango production.

This was followed by Central Luzon and Western Visayas, with 25,395.2 MT and 5,853.4 MT, respectively.

Banana production also dropped by 3.3 percent to 2.01 million MT.

The cavendish variety comprised bulk of the production at 56.1 percent with 1.13 million MT.

The Davao region was the top producer of bananas with a 36 percent share of the total production at 725,760 MT.

The Northern Mindanao region and SOCCSKSARGEN followed with 545,631.1 MT and 259,465 MT, respectively.

Calamansi production posted a 1.5 percent decline during the period to 12,903 MT.

CALABARZON was the largest producer of calamansi with 2,380.8 MT, accounting for 18.5 percent of the country’s total production.

This was followed by Central Luzon and Davao Region with 2,038 MT and 1,678.8 MT, respectively.

Pineapple production increased by one percent to 669,127 MT.

Northern Mindanao accounted for 57.2 percent of the total pineapple production at 382,683 MT.

SOCCSKSARGEN and Bicol region also had sizable shares at 213,673 MT and 49,842 MT, respectively.