Higher banana profits linked to ground spraying
DAVAO CITY — Small banana farmers will earn more if they shift from aerial to manual or ground spraying, according to a study commissioned by environmental group Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS). The unpublished study, “Financial Assessment of Shifting from Aerial to Ground Spray in Banana Plantations in Davao Region,” reported a 19% increase in potential gross profit, from P116,000 to P138,200 per hectare per year, for small banana farmers who shifted from aerial to ground spraying. The findings also showed that small farmers experience “negative net income” because of the high cost of aerial spraying. On average, the study estimated, aerial spraying operations cost P68,000 per hectare for year for large plantations. In present practice, this cost is charged against the account of the small farmers, who pay an average of P73,800 per hectare per year, the study added. The study also claimed that large plantations prefer aerial spraying because shifting to ground spraying leads to additional costs of P28,700 per hectare per year. However, IDIS Executive Director Ann V. Fuertes has said that the increase would be due to additional infrastructure needed to maximize the results of ground spraying. Ms. Fuertes noted that the report recommended additional road networks, trucks and labor but added that profit margins would be “acceptable” despite potential losses. “This [the study] is to show that banana industry will not die, but it is still profitable even without aerial spraying,” Ms. Fuertes said. The IDIS officer said the group is now working to educate independent banana growers, mostly small plantations contracted by big banana firms, on the benefits of shifting to manual spray. The study by researcher Anabeth San Gregorio covered agricultural areas in Tamayong, a remote eastern district of Davao City, and in Kapalong, Davao del Norte. Citing environmental and health hazards, in 2007, the city government passed an ordinance to ban the aerial spraying of agrochemicals. The ordinance affected the operations of at least 5,000 hectares of banana plantations here. Industry group Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association has challenged the ordinance, but the Supreme Court has yet to issue its ruling. (M.M. Padillo, BUSINESS WORLD ONLINE)
Exec policy on aerial spray ban pushed
ANTI-AERIAL spraying activists, commemorating the 6th anniversary of the passage of the Davao City Anti-Aerial Spraying Ordinance, asked the Aquino administration on Thursday to issue a definite executive policy on the banning of the dangerous agricultural practice in Mindanao’s monocrop plantations. “Since 2010, several national inter-agency meetings have already been conducted to discuss the issue and come up with a unified policy but until now, there is still no official government stand on this controversial issue,” said Mary Ann Fuertes, executive director of Interface Development Interventions (Idis). Idis has been supporting the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas) grassroots campaign against aerial spraying in plantations in Southern Mindanao. According to Fuertes, President Benigno Aquino III had instructed the Presidential Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) to take the lead in coming up with recommendations, but until now it has yet to issue its report. “We were told that the PCSD had decided to conduct a cost-benefit study of the aerial spraying practice to aid them in making their policy recommendations. And yet, as of December 2012, there is still no study being conducted since it still lacks funds from the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources),” she said. But for Maas president Dagohoy Magaway, the PCSD’s insistence on the conduct of another study seeks to reduce this issue to a question of economics. “Why is the government focusing on the economic aspects of this case when the real issue here is our right to a clean and healthy environment?” Magaway said. Maas and its supporters are against aerial spraying because the pesticide drift coming from the spray planes often hits the communities situated near monocrop plantations, contaminating the water supply and causing sickness in the local population. Magaway pointed out that even the Department of Health (DOH) has released a study documenting the negative impact of pesticide drift on the health of the residents in the communities. The DOH study was also instrumental in convincing the Commission on Human Rights to also issue their resolution supporting the recommendation to ban aerial spraying in plantations. Both national agencies issued their recommendations during the Arroyo and Aquino administrations but until now, no direct action has been undertaken. “Do not reduce us to merely an economic issue. More than anything, this is an issue of human rights,” Magaway said. “Environmental justice must be served.” Both groups are appealing to President Aquino to issue an executive order for a temporary moratorium while the PCSD impact study is being conducted.
Envi org lauds latest Bukidnon LGU resolution against plantation expansion
Davao City – The Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) welcomed the latest resolution from the Municipality of Maramag in Bukidnon calling for a moratorium on the expansion of bananas and pineapple plantations in the area. “More and more Mindanawons are slowly realizing that watersheds are a valuable resource that is vulnerable to contamination from the harmful pesticides that these monocrop plantations use.”, said IDIS Executive Director Ann Fuertes. Fuertes pointed out that , like Davao City, plantations have been blighting the upland areas of Bukidnon. “Too much reliance on agro-industries like these will result in the irreparable damage to the environment by way of floods and contamination of water aquifers. This effect can be felt even in Davao City because the local watersheds here are part of the Davao River Basin ecosystem, which starts from Bukidnon and ends in Davao.”, she pointed out. The Davao River Basin system is one of the eight major river basins on Mindanao island. So important is this that the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has made it one of its priorities in its island wide program on watershed management and rehabilitation. Fuertes called the Maramag resolution “a step in the right direction.” “ But to give it more teeth, LGUs should follow it up with an ordinance so that this moratorium can be implemented with the full backing of the law.”, she added. On a national policy level, Fuertes said the Aquino administration should repeal Executive Order 807, issued by former president, Macapagal-Arroyo, to stop plantations from further exploiting the precious forest resource. “The root cause for this unrelentless expansion is because the previous administration has lifted the restrictions in the allowable size for banana plantations.”, she said, citing Executive Order 807 which lifted the limits for allowable hectarage for banana plantations. The restrictions on expansion were previously defined by laws (LOI 58 and LOI 709) made during the Marcos era which specifically puts limits to banana plantation areas to protect the country’s agricultural and forest lands. But EO 807 changed all that. “Now we are seeing the effect of unregulated expansion. From problems with pesticide contamination to soil erosion causing floods, by replacing our precious forest with monocrops, we are endangering the lives of our present and future generations.” “If we are to truly protect our watersheds on a long term basis, we should call for the repeal of EO 807 and impose limits on monocrop plantations .”, she said. (#)
Aquino fails to deliver promise for environment
MEMBERS of the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas) gives President Benigno Simeon Aquino III a failing grade. Dagohoy Magaway, Maas president, said the failing grade reflects the dismal record of the President for not fulfilling the promises he made during his electoral campaign, especially the banning of aerial spraying in banana plantations in the country. Magaway said it has been two years since Aquino assumed his post but until now, he has not yet handed down an Executive Order banning aerial spraying which is pending before the Supreme Court. “We’re very disappointed because until now thousands of rural communities are continuously suffering toxic pesticide drift coming from these spraying planes, while we await the court ruling,” Magaway said. Magaway said according to National Task Force Against Aerial Spraying (NTFAAS), a national network of support groups backing up their campaign, the Department of Health (DOH) and Commission on Human Rights (CHR) have already reaffirmed their positions on the matter so that there is no reason for Aquino to ignore their request. Chinkie Pelino, specialist of the Interface Development Interventions (Idis) Police Advocacy, said at the executive level, Aquino tasked the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) to consolidate all government actions related to this issue. “But during the course of the consultation-workshop, the Maas was not invited to air their stand on the matter,” Pelino said, adding that this poses a concern for Maas as their position in banning aerial spray might be set aside in favor of the banana agricultural companies. Magaway added that their members have already witnessed the resumption of aerial spraying in agricultural districts in Calinan, where Maas does not have a strong membership base. Magaway recalled that in 2001, they received reports of three barangays in the Third District which use aerial spray. The Maas and Idis reiterated their call to the President to fulfill his promise and stop the dangerous practice of aerial spraying in the country. Magaway said if Aquino wants to be known in history as a President who stuck to the straight road, he should fulfill his campaign promises to bring environmental justice to the countless Filipinos. (Ivy C. Tejano, Sunstar Davao
Groups launch the 2012 Lunhaw Awards for Davao’s best green initiatives
DAVAO CITY – The Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS), the Davao Association of Colleges and Schools (DACS), City Agriculturist’s Office (CAO), the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and the Davao City Water District (DCWD) are launching a citywide search to recognize outstanding practices in organic farming and environment-friendly initiatives. Named after the Cebuano word for ‘green’, the Lunhaw Awards seeks to recognize individuals, groups or communities which use innovative and sustainable ways of living which protect and nurture the environment. “This award seeks to recognize and honor the initiatives of the ordinary Dabawenyo, who believes in the vision of Green Davao, and thus finds ways to make the vision a reality.”, said Mary Ann Fuertes, IDIS Executive Director. A maximum of fifteen (15) awards will be given. Winners will be selected from three categories: individual household categorys (small), community-based/association (medium), and institutions/malls/hotels (large). Winning entries will be judged according to the following criteria: environmental benefits, economic benefits, use of renewable energy, replicability, durability and continuity, and innovation. The contest is open to Dabawenyos currently living in Davao City. Candidates may nominate their own green practices or else submit other entries which fit the search criteria. “We will award the winners during the citywide celebration of Organic Day in December 2012.”, said Fuertes. “The winners will receive P5,000.00 and a trophy, plus their stories will be promoted as green initiatives worth replicating in the City.” “We hope to sustain this as a yearly activity. In time, we hope to create a Davao City’s Hall of Fame for Best Practitioners in Environmentally Sound/ Sustainable Lifestyles where consecutive winners of the Lunhaw Awards will be enshrined.”, she added. “This will underscore the fact that Green Davao goes beyond the buzzwords and is actually a city of best green practices.” (#)
National faith-based network supports Ban Aerial Spray campaign
DAVAO CITY– Around 281 faith-based organizations, non governmental organizations , people’s organizations and members of the Catholic clergy nationwide urged the Supreme Court to resolve the legality of the Davao City ordinance banning aerial spraying in favour of the affected communities. These organizations, belonging to the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), issued the statement during its 4th General Assembly last March 1, 2012 at the Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City. Prefacing their statement with a quote from a letter of Pope Benedict XVI entitled “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation”, the group also called on President Benigno Aquino III to issue an Executive Order halting aerial spraying practices in all agricultural areas in the country. In that letter, Pope Benedict XVI had written that “Environmental degradation is often due to the lack of far-sighted official policies or to the pursuit of myopic economic interests, which become a serious threat to creation..Every economic decision has a moral consequence!” Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS) President Dagohoy Magaway welcomed the statement of national support for banning aerial spraying saying that this is candid proof that there are many groups nationwide who recognize the validity of the precautionary principle which is the basis of MAAS’ campaign to ban aerial spray. “The Supreme Court and President Aquino should heed this growing clamor nationwide and take immediate steps to halt the practice of aerial spraying in banana plantations everywhere.”, he said. Last year, President Aquino had tasked the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) to convene a workshop to consolidate recommendations from various stakeholders on the issue. However, the workshop failed to include representatives coming from MAAS and the affected communities.