The Philippines
1. The fruit and vegetable industry situation in the Philippines
The production-postproduction-marketing system in the country is disjointed mainly due to the country’s archipelagic nature. Huge losses and high costs are incurred because of the inherent nature of these horticultural produce, the tropical setting, lack of postharvest infrastructures and facilities, the way of handling and the multi-layered distribution system. The pattern of postharvest losses varies widely depending on the commodity, the distance of the source to the market, and the handling system practiced in the locality.
Figure 1. Map of the Philippines.
The Philippines, aside from being tropical is also the typhoon path in the Pacific. Challenges beset us not only the presence of natural calamities and its changing patterns (like the typhoon Ondoy in September 2009 which brought about 500 mm or 24 inches of rain water in 24 hours) but also of technical and non technical factors from production, post production and marketing of fresh horticultural crops.
The country is basically agriculture, majority are small producers whose landholdings range from 0.5 to 1 hectare. It is a hand-me-down activity for most producers with the tradition to grow what was grown by one’s kins. The small producers need to be organized to have an efficient marketing and distribution system (Nuevo and Lizada, 1999).
Table 1 shows the production (metric tons, mt) of selected fruits and vegetables in the Philippines from 2007 – 2009. Banana (9,013,186 mt) topped the list followed by pineapple (2,198,497 mt) in fruits and eggplant (21,170 mt) production was highest followed by tomato (17,656 mt) in vegetables for the period of 3 years. In terms of area (hectares, ha) planted, banana (446,371 ha) consistently covered the largest area planted followed by mango (188.139 ha) (Table 2).
Table 3 shows the range of percentage of postharvest losses of different fruits (banana, calamansi, mango, and papaya) and vegetables (carrot, cabbage, eggplant, onion, and tomato), the causes of losses and the technology to minimize them. Postharvest losses are generally due to diseases, over ripening, mechanical damage and weight loss. These could occur during harvesting, and all along the handling route up to the consumers’ level. In most cases, use of inappropriate packaging materials result in losses. This is aggravated by high transit temperature, rough roads and delays in distribution.
Technologies to prevent losses are discussed in section IV.
Table 1. Production in (metric tons) of selected fruits and vegetables in the Philippines from 2007-2009.
(Sources: Crop situations in the Philippines. BAS. 2003-2008; & Performance of Philippine Agriculture (Jan-June, 2010).
Commodity 2007 2008 2009
Banana 7,484,073 8,687,624 9,013,186
Calamansi 201, 619 199,675 192,187
Mango 1,023.907 884.011 771,441
Papaya 164.234 182,907 176,656
Pineapple 2,016.462 2,209,336 2,198,497
Cabbage 123,443 128,865 124,712
Eggplant 210,156 199,579 200,942
Onion 146,108 129.923 127.055
Tomato 65,024 68,366 198,948
Carrots 65,024 68,366 68,328
2. Production
Highland vegetables are grown on the terraces of mountain slopes of about 2,000 m above sea level. The heavy load of the produce are manually hauled from the farm to the roads via the rugged and steep terrains of the area. In some areas, the commodities are brought to the roadsides via animal -driven sleds. Another hauling style is securing two (2) baskets or sacks on the hind side of animals of horses or carabao. The produce are piled on the roadsides where traders could pick them up. Hauling containers are quite rough, oversized and mechanical damage easily set in.
Most fruits and vegetables grown by farmers are seasonal and highly dependent on rainfall.
Lowland vegetable crops are usually planted after the rice season. Bagging is done in selected crops.
Bitter gourds, mango and bananas are bagged. This protects them from insects and wind damage during its growth and development.
In some situations, the farmer cultivates and tends the vegetables with financing from a trader.
The seeds and other inputs are provided by the trader and the harvested crops are delivered to the trader’s wholesale market. On the other hand, immature fruits still on the tree are already bought while the trader keep watch over it until harvest and distribution to the market.
Table 2. Area planted (hectares) to selected fruits and vegetables in the Philippines from 2007-2009 (Sources: BAS, 2010 Commodity, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Commodity 2007 2008 2009
Banana 436,762 438,593 446,371
Calamansi 20,545 20,956 20,912
Mango 184,173 186,770 188,139
Papaya 9,125 9,175 8,904
pineapple 53,978 58,251 58,823
Cabbage 3,502 8,596 8,483
Eggplant 21,613 21,299 21,170
Onion 15,879 14,579 14,526
Tomato 17,544 17,646 17,656
Carrots 4,898 5,075 5,080
Table 3. Crops with percent losses, causes of losses, and technologies to minimize losses (Loss Assessment Report, 2009; Serrano, 2006).
Crop % Loss Cause of loss Technology
Banana 3-30% advanced ripening, weight loss, mechanical damage, disease and rotting
use of ethylene adsorbents, careful handling
Calamansi 5-32% disease, oleocellosis, yellowing curing, MAP (modified atm packaging)
Mango 2-33% fruit drop cracking, disease, immaturity
HWT (hot water treatment), careful handling
Papaya 27-44% disease, mechanical damage wrapping of fruits, HWT (49–51℃
for 10 minutes) Carrot 7- 12 % crack/cut, soft rot/rot diseased,
punctures, abrasion, cuts, forking, diseased, damaged top/leaves
use of plastic crates as packaging material; surface drying or air-drying of carrots after washing;
use of refrigerated trucks for transport
Cabbage 29% disease, mechanical damage use of refrigerated truck; careful handling; passive cooling using block ice or evaporative coolers Eggplant 10-40% insect damage, shrivelling careful handling
Tomato 11-38%
rotting, disease, weight loss Use of MAP and ethylene adsorbents; careful handling; use of plastic crates
Onion 20-50% disease, mechanical damage curing; careful handling; use of cold ctorage
There are a few functioning agricultural cooperatives able to market their produce to Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. Leaders of these cooperatives try their best so the farmer members follow good agricultural practices (GAP) to be able to produce quality fruits and vegetables. The Department of Agriculture and the local government facilitate training of farmer leaders on GAP.
A shift to commercial enterprise in horticulture is now underway. A proliferation of protected farms for vegetables is increasing. The produce are distributed in high end markets like hotels, restaurants, fast food chains, and supermarkets. Leisure farms or agro-farms where vegetables are grown especially for city dwellers are becoming popular. Vegetable gardens are provided where people could plant or just harvest what they want to buy. Professionals who have retired from their 8 to 5 jobs have already ventured into agriculture of high value fruits and vegetables.
3. Postproduction
Handling practices start with harvesting; it may vary depending on the location. Simple harvesting tools are sometimes used but manual pulling is common in vegetables. Fruits like mango
from century old trees are harvested using picking pole. The fruits are not allowed to drop on the ground otherwise, these are rejected. Harvesting of banana is done by the ‘cutter’ who cuts the trunk and a ‘backer’ who carries the bunch on a pad on his back.
Harvested crops are usually placed in bamboo baskets or plastic sacks which do not protect the produce against mechanical injury. However, the use of plastic crates is now picking up. The harvested produce are hauled manually or placed on the hind sides of animals to the preparation area where the produce are sorted as good or rejects. There are noquality and size standards being strictly followed.
During sorting, commodities are just placed on the ground with or without liners. However, some farms have packing areas with tables and benches where the produce are sorted. Trimming is another postharvest operation which adds value to carrots, calamansi, mango, onion bulbs. Cleaning or washing is done but not to all harvested produce. For commodities that need to be cleaned or washed, one issue is the frequency of changing the water especially if water is limited in the area. After cleaning, the produce are packed in wooden crates, bamboo baskets, polyethylene bags, plastic sacks and in some cases, plastic crates. Packaging materials used depend where the commodity originated.
For example, bananas, from the southern part of the country particularly from Davao, are packed in wooden crates lined with banana bracts. This evolved because of the presence of the multi nationals into banana export. However, bananas from Agusan, a province also in Mindanao, are bulk loaded in 10-footer vans and loaded in ships. Bulk loaded bananas are provided with a wooden vertical divider, the original purpose of which is to delineate the produce of the different farmers in one van. However, the vertical divider aided in the dissipation of heat inside the van which is beneficia to the banana fruits.
Commodities are usually transported by ship from the southern part where crops are produced and marketed to the northern part where the major domestic market is situated. If there are no delays due to bad weather or technical ship problems, the transit time is about 36 hours. Delay in transport would lead to additonal handling cost, loss of volume and loss of potential profit (Bautista and Maunahan, 2007). When commodities in the metal van are loaded in passenger ships, the vans are placed below the boat where the engine is located. The temperature rises really high due to the engine heat and the heat of the commodities emitted in the process of respiration. Commodities are also shipped using cargo vessels which takes a shorter period of time (24 hrs). However, cargo vessels are more limited than passenger ships.
After the ship has docked, it will still take about 5-6 hours for the fruit van to be released. If fruits are bulk loaded, stripping takes another 16 hours. The bananas will then be transferred in trucks or oversized jeepneys and transported over land. However, the vehicle is always fully loaded and the handlers sit on top of the produce. The people sitting on the bulk loaded fruits add weight especially to the bottom fruits which results in compression damage.
4. Market
The supply chain of the produce is a multi layered system in the country. From the farm, fruits and vegetables are bought by (1) wholesalers from the urban wet market, (2) traders and consolidators, and (3) the processors. From the wholesalers, the produce are sold in the retail wet markets which will be bought by the consumers for their household. The wholesaler, trader, consolidators and processors supply the supermarkets, fast food chains hotels and restaurants. Consumers buy from retailers, supermarkets, and fast food chains (Figure 2).
Harvested crops are transported to the wholesale or retail markets in various kinds of vehicles.
Trucks and jeepneys are used for long distance and a “tricycle” (motorcycle with side car) is used for short distancemarket. oading and unloading processes are still manually done where two to 4 bags of produce are carried at the back of the market handlers. In this manner, dropping of the packages is a common sight causing mechanical damage to the commodities. At the retail level, traders re-sort, rearrange, and repack into smaller lots of 5-10 kgs. n all of the traditional or wet markets, vegetables and fruits are displayed at ambient temperature, which is relatively hot (about 30℃). Thus, most fruits and vegetables could only be visually appealing for a day or two. However, in upermarkets where display shelves have temperatures ranging from 10 to 15℃ fruits and vegetables stay fresh for another 3-5 days.
At resent, the distribution system is quite inefficient ue to lack of functional ostharvest facilities, trading centers and packing houses, storage facilities for fresh, poor infrastructure and eak implementation of policies for agriculture. Lately, the government is establishing “Barangay Food Terminals” or village –level food terminals equipped with cold storage equipment for the storage of excess agricultural produce.