Data released by the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) has indicated production of the country’s biggest fruit crop, bananas, has declined in the second quarter of 2020.
Production currently sits at 2.23m tonnes for the second quarter of the year, a 1.3 per cent reduction year on year.
A report by Philstar suggested the reduction in volume is due to the presence of Panama Tropical Race 4 (Panama TR4), bacterial wilt disease, and, in some areas, Mozaic disease.
The reduced volume has impacted supply to Japan, which reported a 7.6 per cent drop in shipments for July 2020 compared to July 2019.
The Davao region accounted for 39 per cent of the country’s total banana production, followed by Northern Mindanao and Soccsksargen with 19 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
Cavendish remains the most-grown variety in the Phillipines, accounting for 53 per cent of all bananas, while Saba (28 per cent) and Lakatan (10 per cent) the other major crops.
