Controlled atmosphere technology can preserve the quality of fresh mango for about a month while cutting down transport cost by about 76.19 percent.




This was one of the significant reports during the technology forum on controlled atmosphere technology for mangoes which was held recently at the conference room of the Department of Agriculture - Regional Field Unit XI, Bangoy, Davo City.




Controlled atmosphere or CA is a storage technology of keeping the product in a sealed container maintaining a certain gas mix and temperature. Dr. Concepcion Lizada, now a professor at the University of the Philippines - Diliman, has conducted pioneering studies on CA over a decade ago at the Postharvest Horticulture Training and Research Center (PHTRC), UP Los Baños. 'For mango, the recommendations are 5% oxygen within 36 hours and 12.5 degrees Celsius,' she said. It should be noted though that there are some more very important considerations like harvesting of mature fruits, disease control starting from the production stage, precooling and provision of ethylene adsorbent. CA is impractical if the storage duration is less than 2 weeks because of cost and tissue behavior of mango under such conditions.




'After our 20-day trial using controlled atmosphere, we're delighted to see the results. We're very much satisfied. CA really worked for us,' according to Mr. Renato Bendigo, senior manager of East Asia Bananas Corporation. His company, though primarily a banana exporter, is now expanding into the mango market.




Maersk Line, on the other hand, claimed that controlled atmosphere technology has made sea shipment a better option for the transport of fresh fruits because of savings from air freight and excellent product quality. 'The sea transport can give a savings of as much as 76.19% or about three-fourths of the air freight cost,' declared Assistant Manager Rowie Lesbona of Maersk Line. 'For the same volume of fruits, the cost of air freight from Davao to Japan costs $21,000 while through sea transport with controlled atmosphere technology, the cost is only $5,000. Put another way, sea shipment is only one-fourth the air freight expense,' she explained.




Ms. Lesbona also reported successful shipments using CA for mango, pineapple, avocado, rambutan, asparagus, mangosteen, sweet corn, lettuce and plums between the countries of Thailand, Japan, Peru, Ghana, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, United States, China, United Kingdom, Singapore, Chile and Europe in a span of 12 to 38 days. The volume ranges from 20 to 400 containers per season depending on market situation.




Exporters though are still faced with some challenges. 'Our problem is lack of supply. Our grower who has 2000 ha could only supply, at best, two 40-footer vans per week. It's too small compared to our usual 14 vessels shipment a month of banana,' confessed Mr. Bendigo.




The forum later revealed some problems starting from the production stage. To compete well with the export market, good quality mangoes must be ensured right from the farm. This means adequate fertilizer, pest control and other required cultural care must be given. The contract grower who usually tends to the farm is also faced with the peculiarity of microclimates in his area.




Collaboration among industry stakeholders was also identified as a critical area for improvement. Institutional building and partnership were eyed to promote good agricultural practices in the farm as well as to establish efficient marketing systems.




Rising to the challenge, Maersk declared its willingness to collaborate with controlled atmosphere projects like research and trial runs to include good local products such as asparagus, rambutan, durian and pomelo.




The government, on the other hand, expressed its commitment to support the growers, contractors, exporters, service providers and other players in promoting the controlled atmosphere as a technological tool in exporting local farm produce not only to established destinations in Japan, Hongkong and USA but also to emerging markets in the middle east and Europe.




'We're sending a trade mission to the middle east and Europe to determine market information such as quality standards, price, phytosanitary and packaging requirements, volume of demand and others,' according to Mr. Francisco Ramos III, Director of the DA's Agricultural and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS).




'In support, we at the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE), are validating a postharvest protocol using CA in partnership with our collaborators. This protocol can guide our export players especially in the technical aspect of CA,' added Mr. Arnel Ramir M. Apaga, Acting Director II of the Training and Extension Department.




The technology forum was a collaborative activity of the Department of Agriculture -AMAS, Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) and DA RFU XI.