Mindanao Fruit Farmers expanding reach to the Visayas

By Allan Nawal

FRUITS GALORE. Fruit lovers in Lingayen, Pangasinan troop to the municipal hall grounds on Saturday (September 14, 2019), for the MinDA Fruit Festival. (Mindanao Development Authority photo)

DAVAO CITY – The fruit festival organized by the Mindanao Development Authority, which aims to link Mindanao's fruit farmers with consumers outside of the island-region, is coming to the Visayas.

MinDA chair Emmanuel Piñol on Saturday said the Visayas leg would take place in Cebu City from September 28-29, 2019.

“Secretary Michael Dino, the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, said he will host the Cebu staging of the MinDA Fruits Festival to give Cebuanos access to fresh fruits from Mindanao at lower prices,” Piñol said.

He said the Visayas leg was finalized during a recent chance meeting with Dino at the Manila Domestic Airport.

“Sec. Dino said he will be able to choose the ideal location for the fruits festival next week,” Piñol added.

Meanwhile, the Pangasinan version of the MinDA fruits festival took place on Saturday, where residents of Lingayen and those from nearby areas started feasting on such popular Mindanao fruits as durian, mangosteen, pomelo, marang, among others.

Piñol said in a Facebook post that it was still dark when prospective buyers came to the municipal hall grounds for the fruit festival.

The Lingayen version was the fourth of such event since last month.

“Next week, the MinDA Fruits Festival will be staged in La Trinidad, Benguet and then Cebu City,” Piñol added.

He said the conduct of the fruits festival would be conducted in a regular and sustainable manner and that MinDA had negotiated with airline companies for a special cargo price for Mindanao's fruits.

Piñol said part of the sustainability plan is the pursuit of trading arrangements with other local government units in Luzon and the Visayas.

He cited that local government officials, such as Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil, were instrumental in the previous and the current fruits festivals.

Piñol said he was also looking forward to increasing the number of suppliers in the future to satisfy consumer demand, noting that in the Baguio experience, 20 tons of fruits were not even enough due to the volume of buyers.

“The more supplier, the better. That way, all sides will benefit. Consumers will enjoy fruits at a reasonable price and fruit farmers will have new and bigger markets,” he said.

Mindanao fruit farmers usually experience supply glut during harvest seasons, pushing the prices so low.

For example, last February, rambutan only sold at about PHP20 per kilogram in Mindanao because of the large volume of harvest. (PNA)

A world without trees

Several months ago, I asked here how a world would look like without water. And, is there any difference? My today;s question is, "What would happen if all the world’s trees disappeared?"

As the Amazon fires continue to burn, writer and journalist Rachel Nuwer asks in an BBC-report: How dependent are we on the survival of forests?

In Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron’s Furiosa strives to return to “the Green Place” – a tree-filled oasis in the otherwise lifeless wasteland that the Earth has become. When Furiosa arrives at the sacred spot, however, she finds only skeletal trunks and sprawling dunes. She screams in anguish. Without trees, all hope seems lost.

Ask yourself: how would you feel? Hopeless too? Furiosa’s feelings were justified. “Forests are the lifeline of our world,” says Meg Lowman, director of the Tree Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Florida that is dedicated to tree research, exploration and education. “Without them, we lose extraordinary and essential functions for life on Earth.”

Following the Rachel Nuwer's report, trees’ services to this planet range from carbon storage and soil conservation to water cycle regulation. They support natural and human food systems and provide homes for countless species – including us, through building materials. Yet we often treat trees as disposable: as something to be harvested for economic gain or as an inconvenience in the way of human development. Since our species began practicing agriculture around 12,000 years ago, we’ve cleared nearly half of the world’s estimated 5.8 trillion trees, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Nature.

Sad to say but it's unfortunately so very true: much of the deforestation has happened in recent years. Since the onset of the industrial era, forests have declined by 32%. Especially in the tropics, many of the world’s remaining three trillion trees are falling fast, with about 15 billion cut each year, the Nature study states. In many places, tree loss is accelerating. In August, the National Institute for Space Research showed an 84% increase in fires in the Brazilian Amazon rain forest compared to the same period in 2018. Slash-and-burn is also especially on the rise in Indonesia and Madagascar.  

Making me sad and angry, or even better expressed angry first and sad then is the reality, that there have been more than 70,000 forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon in 2019. Barring an unimaginable catastrophe, however, there’s no scenario under which we would fell every tree on the planet. 

“Let me just start with how horrible a world without trees would be – they are irreplaceable,” says Isabel Rosa, a lecturer in environmental data and analysis at Bangor University in Wales. “If we get rid of all the trees, we will live [on] a planet that might not actually be able to sustain us anymore.”  And Isabel Rosa is so very right.

I am living in a big compound in Davao City with many trees and a wild tropical garden. Every time, trees have to cut or shortened, I have to leave. It's painful for me. But it's the wish of my neighbors, because branches of some trees keep on destroying their roofs.

Fact is, if trees disappeared overnight, so would much of the planet’s biodiversity. Habitat loss is already the primary driver of extinction worldwide, so the destruction of all remaining forests would be “catastrophic” for plants, animals, fungi and more, says Jayme Prevedello, an ecologist at Rio de Janeiro State University in Brazil. “There would be massive extinctions of all groups of organisms, both locally and globally.”

The loss of trees from the world would throw the climate off kilter. The planet’s climate would also be drastically altered in the short and long term. Trees mediate the water cycle by acting as biological pumps: they suck water from the soil and deposit it into the atmosphere by transforming it from liquid to vapour. By doing this, forests contribute to cloud formation and precipitation. Trees also prevent flooding by trapping water rather than letting it rush into lakes and rivers, and by buffering coastal communities from storm surges. They keep soil in place that would otherwise wash away in rain, and their root structures help microbial communities thrive.

So what's the difference between my first and today's question? Can you imagine a world without water? Can you imagine a world without trees? Or without both? Worth to think about. Worth to act about it! Even if we could live in a world without trees, who would want to?

Mindanao Peace Council Month Activities 2019

By : Hope Militante Fernandez

Regional Directors

Division Heads

Chiefs of Office

Local Government Officials

Military and Police Officers

**** and unto all whom this message shall come ****

Dear Sirs and Madams:

Warm greetings of peace!

A group of Davao-based non-government organizations, government agencies, civic and volunteer organizations have come together to spearhead the celebration of International Day of Peace this year. With the theme "Climate Action For Peace , a month-long program of activities highlighted by the Mindanao Peace Council (Davao Peace Fair 2019) is envisioned to bring together multi-sectoral groups such as civil society, religious groups, youth organizations, security sector, and others in a common activity where the international celebration will promote awareness on peace issues and showcase peace initiatives. The Davao Peace Fair 2019 will be held on the actual date of the annual International Day of Peace as declared by the United Nations on September 21, 2019.

In lieu of this, we would like to invite your good office to join us and participate in the different activities organized by our Peace Partners in the Davao Region.

1. What are we celebrating on Sept. 21, 2019?

In 2001, the United Nation General Assembly by unanimous vote adopted resolution 55/282 , which established September 21 of every year as International Day of Peace.

2. What is the theme of the celebration this year?

The theme for 2019 is “Climate Action For Peace”

3. What are the objectives?

§ To reflect on the meaning of peace in the world today, and in the midst of what is happening now in our country

§ To educate the people to be aware of our responsibilities in peace-building

§ To celebrate the gift of peace

4. What is the initiative of Davao in response to the International Day of Peace?

In Davao Region, a month long celebration of Peace Fair will be held from September 14 – 29, 2019. The different groups and organizations will gather to celebrate and promote peace initiatives.

Program of Activities

September 14, 2019

3:00 p.m.

The Tionko Football Field,(Ecoland Bridge )

MPC Peace Month Kick – Off

“ BioKite Flying For Peace “

Maharlika Sports Foundation

JCI-Duwaling

September 19, 2019

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon

Xavier Hall Training Room, 8th Floor, CCFC Bldg, Ateneo de Davao University

Revisiting IPRA:

An IPRA Law Forum with NCIP

Contact Person :

Dadong Gumatao/Sir Macoy Samante:

UCEAC AdDU Office:

0932-3681546

ateneo.uceac@gmail.com

September 20-22,2019

Venue: Merkadu Strip,4F Skygarden,NCCC Mall, Buhangin, Davao City

KALINAW Bazaar @ Merkadu

Contact Person : Heidi-0908-8209038

Jaki – 0912-9830677

merkadu.davao@gmail.com

Everyone is invited to display and/or give services in the advocacy & public service booth for your respective office/agencies that will be available at the venue.

September 21,2019 MAIN EVENT

( Whole Day ) 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Venue: Municipal Gymnasium, Brgy. Kingking, Pantukan Gym, Compostela Valley

Solidarity Walk

Launching of the Solidarity Garden

“Trees For Peace “

Everyone is invited to display and/or give services in the advocacy & public service booth for your respective office/agencies that will be available at the venue.

Contact Person : Zenith Maceda

0950-3662565/09355651702

September 23, 2019

1:00-3:30 p.m.

Ateneo Training Room, 8th Floor

CCFC Bldg. AdDU

“Being with One “ Brahma Khumaris

An Inter-Faith Gathering

RSVP: 0999-995-3862

Culmination of Peacemonth 2019 :

Last weekof September Schedule (TBA)

Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental in Partnership w/ 73IB,10ID,PA

For all those interested to join please coordinate with the contact persons listed here.

We are hoping for your positive response to this invitation.

HOPE MILITANTE FERNANDEZ-MENDOZA

President/ Founder

H.O.P.E. (Humanitarian Organization for Peace Engagements)

Lead Convener

MINDANAO PEACE COUNCIL

Mobile No: +63 (9) 08-3053408

+63 (9) 550746999

Landline # : ( 082 ) 221-7909

E-mail Ad: hopefernandez@yahoo.com

"And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:18)