DavNor banana growers shift to corn due to Fusarium wilt Businesses urged to make good use of RCEP benefits

As the country finally ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) after two years, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual has encouraged Philippine-based businesses to take advantage of the benefits of the new trade pact.

Pascual told trade reporters in a virtual briefing Wednesday that the impacts of RCEP depend on how immediate businesses will act following its ratification.

Following Senate’s concurrence with the ratification of RCEP on Tuesday evening, the Philippines will deposit its instrument of ratification to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat. RCEP will enter into force 60 days after the receipt of deposit of the instrument of ratification.

“We really want to com- municate to our business community and the people in general that this RCEP just provides the enabling environment. How we behave given the new favorable environment will determine to what extent we can benefit from it. The government cannot regulate or order this. (But) we make sure that the environment is there,” Pascual said.

Atleast 150 banana growers whose plantations were infected with Fusarium wilt or Panama disease shifted to corn farming in Davao del Norte province.

As Philippine-based businesses are anticipating the country’s participation to RCEP, the DTI chief said they have been preparing for the increased competition and have been planning how to take advantage of the new free trade agreement.

“More than that, I think investors that are eyeing the Philippines as production hub will now be implementing their intentions and plans to set up manufacturing hubs in the Philippines and making their investments in our country,”

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This came after they became the first beneficiaries of Governor Edwin Jubahib’s KAAGAPAY Corn Program that provides farmers with free corn seeds and fertilizers.

Each beneficiary received two bags of hybrid corn seeds, free fertilizer, and PHP4,430 from the Department of Labor and

Employment (DOLE) under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program for displaced or disadvantaged workers.

Jubahib underscored the importance of helping the farmers who have been struggling with the disease for a long time.

“The farmers affected by Panama disease have been perpetually asking for our help. We must help them, and that’s what we’re doing it with the KAAGAPAY program,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

Jubahib said the provincial government has seen the struggle of the banana farmers, especially in controlling the spread of Panama disease.

However, despite seeking expert advice from scientists in Israel, South

Korea and China, there is no definitive cure for the disease.

Senior agriculturist Alphabet Gulanes of the provincial agriculture office said about 50 hectares of farmlands will receive support consisting of seeds, fertilizers and marketing. Fusarium wilt is a soilborne pathogen, an invincible breed of fungi that are attracted to banana plants. It can live or exist in longtime dormancy of 30 to 50 years.