THE BANANA Conference and Exhibit 2024 (BanCon 2024) will invite 500 banana farmers to improve the banana industry in the Philippines from Oct. 17 to 18 at SM Lanang SMX Convention Center.
Organized by the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. Region XI Chapter (PhilExport Davao) and in collaboration with the Philippine Banana Council, Inc. (Philbana Council, Inc.), BanCon 2024 aims to provide a platform for strategic intervention to address industry ranging from production, technology, policy, and other concerns that must be resolved.
BanCon 2024’s goal is also to deliberate on policy regulations and relevant legislative actions to support the industry’s sustainability and showcase banana products, technology programs, and other initiatives to ensure competitiveness.
The target participants for BanCon 2024 are banana industry players; farmers, traders, and exporters.
Philbana Council, Inc. chairman Atty. Peter Paul Savillo highlighted that the banana industry is suffering from current problems such as low production and the fusarium wilt (Panama Disease) that is very difficult to control.
Other problems include financing and informing protocols on chemical usage in the Japan and South Korean markets.
“And so the challenge is if we can minimize the effect of the diseases and growers can have the adequate financing, maybe we can increase the production and it becomes economically viable again for the independent growers,” Savillo said during the Wednesday’ss Habi at Kape.
Philbana Council, Inc. board member Dolly Lazarus said that the small farmers are struggling to recover and plant in the banana industry due to financial problems, and the fusarium wilt wiping out banana crops namely in Davao del Norte.
She added that small farmers are always left behind far from the new technology and implementations.
“So we are just hoping that after this council people will or the government can do something about it and help the banana growers to rise again,” Lazarus said.
