On February of 1989, a non-government organization in Negros Occidental started shipping Balangon bananas to Japan. But the first cargo became black and rotten. They did not stop there; they tried several times until their first successful export by September of the same year.

Twenty-seven years later, the Alter Trade Corporation (ATC) has mastered the trading of Balangon bananas from the Philippines to Japan. Balangon, also known as bungulan, is a local cultivar of Cavendish native in the Philippines.

The Balangon Industry

The ATC was founded in 1980s during the international sugar crisis where Negros Occidental was severely affected�"the very reason of the birth of the famous MassKara Festival held every October. The Japan Committee for Negros Campaign (JCNC) was one of the foreign groups to conduct emergency relief among the displaced sugarcane workers. As part of their mid- and long-term support activities, the JCNC imported mascobado sugar and Balangon bananas through the people-to-people trade approach�"an alternative trading system. Hence, the name of the new organization�"Alter Trade Corporation.

For almost three decades now, the ATC has expanded its operation outside the Negros Island Region reaching Cebu, Panay, and Bohol and as far as Tupi, South Cotabato in the southern Philippines and Nueva Vizcaya in the north.

According to Ms. Gilda Caduya, president of ATC, they have about 3,000 partner households growing bananas in their respective backyards. On their estimate, they are maintaining at least half a million banana mats.

Weekly, the ATC ships an average of 2,800 boxes of Balangon bananas to Japan. The number rises to 4,000 during peak season.

Postharvest handling and packaging

The ATCs extensive experience in the Balangon industry and the stringent policy of Japan in importing agricultural products has sustained the production of quality bananas.

The bananas being produced are either organically or naturally grown. The ATC is continuously conducting capacity building activities among their partner farmers. Through the years of experience and research, they had developed their basic cultural management and best farm practices.

The ATC assures that every banana finger consumed by the Japanese is of high quality, and naturally and organically grown, but they don’t have any assurance that every banana they harvest will reach the Japanese market. Yes, every banana will reach the land of the rising sun but some will just end in the trash can.

Banana exporters, especially organic farming, have been long suffering from the crown rot disease. High rejection rates were observed because of this postharvest disease. Experts from the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) characterized crown-rot disease as ‘rotting of the cut tissues of the banana hand or cluster that ultimately destroy the whole commodity.’

The rotting occurs during the shipment period. The ATC hauls their Balangon from their consolidation area in Negros to either Manila or Davao Port then transport it to Japan. The process will take 25-30 days but it will take longer when port congestion occurs.

In the case of ATC, they incurred an average rejection rate of 7% last year and recorded as high as 20%. Some companies treat the disease with chemicals; however, residue contamination remains a threat to human health.

Bio-control agents: nature’s soldiers

At PHilMech, as government institution mandated to address the postharvest problems of agri-fishery industry, the Food Protection Division has explored the utilization of bio-control agents in pest management.

Dr. Dionisio G. Alvindia has been closely working with the Alter Trade Corporation to combat crown rot disease in Balangon. The partnership started during Dr. Alvindia’s postgraduate studies in Japan where he studied disease control for Balangon together with his Japanese professor, Dr. Keiko T. Nasauki. Coincidentally, his professor was providing technical assistance to the ATC.

Dr. Alvindia, Supervising Science Research Specialist and Scientist III, had recommended practices to reduce the occurrence of postharvest diseases in banana like the anthracnose, crown rot, finger rot and freckles. Among his recommendations include proper handling and packaging system and improved cultural and postharvest practices.

Recently, he successfully discovered number of bio-control agents with antagonistic effect against pathogens that cause crown rot. His laboratory experiments on BCA showed significant results in combating the said postharvest diseases.

To validate the result of , Dr. Alvindia together with his colleague, Mr. Elijah Davalos, conducted a field evaluation of the BCAs in managing the crown-rot disease.

In partnership with the ATC, the group tested two species of BCAs, the DGA14 and DGA02. BCA-treated samples together with organically treated bananas as control check were sent to Japan for evaluation by its quarantine officers.

The researchers monitored three factors namely, crown rot index (0 to 7, where 0 means disease-free), visual quality rating (1 to 6, where 6 denotes excellence), and peel color (0 to 7, where 7 means yellow).

Their Trial 1 reported promising results with a low rejection rate of 1.5%, 29 days after treatment. The crown-rot index were also very low at 0.6 for DGA14 and 0.475 for DGA02 compared to the 7.0 of the control check. In terms of visual quality, the BCA-treated bananas were almost excellent with rating of 5.0 and 4.75 for the DGA14 and DGA02, respectively. The same result was also observed on the peel color of the Bulungan, the DGA14-treated bananas had a rating of 5.0 and the DGA02-treated recorded 4.75 while the control check was 1.0.

“Malaki ang maitutulong nito kapag naging successful (This will be of great help if it becomes successful),” the ATC President said.

According to her, the group need to further conduct evaluation of the BCA to have a establish report, thus, ensuring the Japanese authorities and consumers of better quality bananas. Since the DGA14 and DGA02 are newly discovered BCA, the ATC is working for the approval of the use of these microorganisms to preserve the quality of organic Balangon bananas.

“Addressing crown rot would mean increased profit rate for the ATC, then we have budget for our social projects for our partner communities,” said Ms. Caduya.

Ms. Caduya also shared that their postharvest experts and Dr. Alvindia are now working to address the problem of farmers on diamond spot. The group will also explore the effectiveness of BCA on the said disease.

“In addressing diamond spot, kapag mas kakaunti ang rejects sa farm gate mas madadagdagan ang income ng ating mga farmers (if there are lesser rejects at the farm gate, our farmers will have a better income),” the President added.

Quality bananas

Being nature’s soldiers, bio-control agents have a great potential in protecting and preserving the produce both organically and naturally.

The ATC have come a long way in assisting farmers to produce and trade quality Balangon bananas. With their continuous learning and networking with R&D institutions like PHilMech, time will come that no more black and rotten bananas will reach the foreign market.

References:
Gonzalez, M.B. Empowering the Marginalized “Balangon” Farmers of Negros. Technopreneur: Success Entrepreneurs Adopting Innovations. Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization. 2011
Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization Annual Report 2014