DA to commercialize organic pesticide for banana

THE Department of Agriculture plans to commercialize an organic pesticide for bananas to help prolong the shelf-life of the fruits during transit to overseas markets.

In a briefing on Tuesday, the DA-Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PhilMech) it is now in talks with local and foreign companies for the possible mass production of the organic solution that would eliminate banana crown rot—a disease that has plagued the local banana industry for many years.

Chemrez Technologies Inc.—a Filipino company engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of resins, power coatings, and oleochemicals for both domestic and export markets—has expressed its interest to participate in this initiative.

“They [Chemrez] have the technological capability to mass-produce the organic solution. They already have the solution that would make it possible for the natural friendly bacteria and fungi in the banana fruit to reproduce in large scale,” Ricardo Cachuela, PhilMech executive director, said.

Dole Asia is now conducting a pilot test of the organic solution to its main export product line, which will be exported to markets like Asia, New Zealand and Middle East.

The company sources bananas, fresh pineapples, asparagus, mangoes, papaya and other fruits and vegetables from the Philippines, Thailand and Ecuador.

“So far, we still have no contract with Dole since the implementation is still limited to laboratory test, but we are hopeful that the implementation would push through,” Cachuela said.

“This breakthrough discovery will greatly benefit the local banana industry, especially the exporters, because that will make their bananas better in quality because no fungicide would be used to control the banana crown rot, and the banana crown rot would be thing of the past,” he added.

Banana crown rot is the most severe postharvest disease besetting the banana industry in the country for many years. Scientists identified the disease as a syndrome caused by several fungi like Lasiodplodia theobromae, Colletotichum musae, Thielavopsis paradoxa and other Fusarium species.

At present, banana farmers and wholesalers in the country dip bananas in a fungicide, a chemical solution, to control the banana crown rot. Without chemical treatment, bananas shipped from the country show signs of the banana crown rot within 21 days in transit, making them less saleable to consumers.

“Because of the long interval of 19 to 21 days from harvest to market and due to nontreatment of pesticides, export quality bananas deteriorate due to crown rot,” said Dr. Dionisio Alvindia, the Philmech scientist who discovered specific fungi and bacteria that can be used to combat the disease.

“This is better than the regular fungicide used by our farmers since the bacteria and the fungi used in this organic solution is inherent to the banana fruit,” he said.

He said that a German-based company sent a letter to him expressing their interest to commercialize the production of the organic solution.

Alvindia also said that a number of cooperatives and agribusiness companies involved in large scale banana planting have already approached PhilMech so they can start applying the organic solution in their operations, most of which were located in Davao, Bukidnon and Dumaguete.

To date, there are more than 100,000 hectares of lands planted to banana in the country.

On the other hand, Cachuela said that the agency has been testing for at least a year the use of an ultrasonic technology to decontaminate pesticide residue and pathogenic microorganisms in fruits and vegetables.

“The initial lab results are promising. Our tests show that ultrasonic treatment on mangoes can remove the latex from its skin without affecting the color and weight,” he said.

Initial laboratory tests by PhilMech also showed that lettuce, bitter gourd (ampalaya) and banana treated with 10 minutes of ultrasonic washing at 40 kilohertz (Khz) removed pesticide residues from the aforementioned fruits and vegetables without affecting their quality and shelf life.

While the commercialization of ultrasonic treatment for vegetables is not expected within the short term, Cachuela said its benefits to Philippine agriculture over the long-term cannot be ignored.

A present, removing pathogenic microorganisms from vegetables and fruits is done by using chemical solutions or heat technology, among others. But the use of chemical solutions to decontaminate vegetables can have serious health implications.

Many consumers also wash their vegetables before cooking to remove pesticide residue. But research has shown that washing vegetables in plain water is not effective in removing pesticide residue. –JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ, Manila Times