Noted mango researcher dies

MANILA, Philippines - The man behind the en­­­try of Phil­ippine mangoes to Australia and the United States has passed away. Hernani Golez, Ph.D., the most awarded researcher in the field of mango pest management and production, succumbed to a lingering illness.

Golez’s researches on mango seed weevils and fruit flies resulted in the declaration of Guimaras Island in the Visayas a zone free of mango pulp and seed weevils, making the province as the only one in the country capable of exporting mangoes to the US and Australia.

The Philippine mango has traveled as far as Korea, China and New Zealand with Golez’s integrated pest management (IPM) strategy for mango that utilizes other control procedures involving pruning, clean culture, fruit bagging and biological control.

With his expertise, many of the technical requirements for export have been addressed like pest risk analysis, survey, bio-assay, and export protocols.

Golez’s IPM book for mango published in 1997 has become the “bible” of Filipino mango growers. Before his death, he was working on a Mango Tree Encyclopedia, an Oman project, and a national survey of mango pulp and seed weevil in the Philippines funded by the US Department of Agriculture.