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Volume X, No. 105
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Briefly Devt priority THE MINDANAO Development Authority (MinDA) has identified Jolo, the capital of Sulu province, as a priority development area after Taraka town in Lanao del Sur. “We will come up with a comprehensive proposal and present it to the President,” MinDA Chairperson Emmanuel F. Piñol said in a statement Friday. The development program will be similar to the one recently launched in Taraka, which involves the establishment of model learning centers mainly for agricultural livelihood activities. Among the key sectors eyed for Jolo are chicken and cattle farming, and solar-power energy for both electricity supply and water desalination.
PRDP, WB funds THE Davao City government is planning to propose new ventures for funding under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) as it recently re-established the special unit tasked to manage the agriculture-focused program at the local level. An additional $280-million allocation was approved last year for the PRDP, a World Bank-funded program with the Department of Agriculture as lead implementing agency. Launched in 2014 as a nationwide assistance program following the Mindanao Rural Development Program, PRDP had an initial P27 billion worth of funding with an additional infusion of $450 million approved in 2018.
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Banana industry says Corona slows exports www.businessweekmindanao.com
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ORK stoppages and market closures in China stemming from a coronavirus epidemic are hurting small- and medium-sized banana growers in the Philippines, the world’s second largest exporter of the fruit, an industry group said on Monday. Mainland China is one of the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest buyers of bananas, its top agricultural export. Together with Japan, it bought more than half the Philippines’ exports of the fruit last year. The Philippines’ banana shipments last year were valued at $1.93 billion, up roughly 40% from the previous year, and accounting for 3% of overall exports. Representatives of the Pilipino Banana Growers & Exporters Association met farm ministry officials on
Monday to tackle the industry challenges, including the virus outbreak. “The China problem is not as serious for the big exporters because of their existing contracts with the importers,” said Stephen Antig, the group’s executive director. The hardest hit are the small- and medium-sized growers who deal with spot buyers, he added. “Their shipments cannot be readily delivered, because of the work shutdown and CORONA/PAGE 11
RETURN TO SENDER. A pay loader drops garbage, which was illegally dumped in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, into a bagging hopper for shipment back to South Korea. The Bureau of Customs has made three shipments of the wastes back to their country of origin in accordance with the Basel Convention. mindanews photo froilan gallardo
Angkas expected to resume operation in CDO: LTFRB MOTORCYCLE-hailing company Angkas is set to operate here amid opposition from transport groups threatened by the firm’s imminent
expansion in Cagayan de Oro City. Angkas chief executive officer Angeline Tham said Thursday they RESUME/PAGE 11
MinDA partners with CMU, iFresh for agri program By CARMELITO Q. FRANCISCO, Correspondent
SEA OF CLOUDS. Mountaineers enjoy the view from above the clouds atop Mount Kaagnaw (elevation: 2,742masl) in Lantapan, Bukidnon, which forms part of the Mount Kitanglad Range. mindanews by aries sandino m . mordeno
DAVAO City — The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has teamed up with a Mindanao-based
university and an agricultural trading firm for an agribusiness program PARTNERS/PAGE 11
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