Kundiman is a classic form of Filipino love song which expresses one’s undying love for another. In banana production, kundiman is also coined and used, however, to refer to lack of care for bananas – a practice of leaving the banana plant to grow on its own until harvest time. Simply, it is a colloquial term for growing bananas without applying proper production practices.
It was coined from expressions: kung di man madiligan (not watered), kung di man maalagaan (uncared for), kung di man malinisan (kept unclean), kung di man maabonohan (unfertilized) and so on. Unfortunately, kundiman is the traditional way of planting and harvesting banana in the country especially in backyard/smallhold farming. This, despite the fact that banana is an economically important fruit crop in the Philippines.
Based on Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), banana is the 4th largest agricultural commodity produced in the Philippines. In 2012, the country ranked 3rd in terms of production volume at 9.22M mt and 2nd in export volume at 2.05M mt valued at US$471M. The major banana cultivars being produced in the country are cavendish (50%), saba (30%), and lakatan (11%). While cavendish is being grown commercially for export market, saba and lakatan are primarily grown by smallhold farmers for domestic consumption.
To address these concerns, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) developed programs on banana as guided by the Philippine Agriculture (PA) 2020.
Under PA 2020, the primary goal of the Industry Strategic Plan (ISP) for Export Fruit Crops is to enhance the domestic and export competitiveness of the fruit industry. This could be achieved by focusing on the development of fruit crops with proven high production performance and export acceptability. Banana and mango are considered national commodities while papaya, pineapple, durian, jackfruit, pili, and pummelo are regional commodities.
Since 2002, DOST-PCAARRD focused its resources in uplifting the lives of Filipino farmers by making technologies on banana to increase productivity and income readily available. Huge investments were provided both by DOST and PCAARRD to support major programs: S&T Anchor Program (STAP) for Banana, National Integrated Banana R&D Program (NIBRDP), and most recently, the S&T Management Approaches against Fusarium wilt on Cavendish in Mindanao.
STAP Banana concentrated on R&D initiatives to address major pests and diseases, postharvest and packaging concerns, and socio-economic and technology assessment studies for lakatan and saba. NIBRDP, on the other hand, started the establishment of lakatan, latundan, and saba farms and introduced S&T interventions to improve productivity. NIBRDP also included R&D and capacity building activities to ensure that the production chain is well supported. Technology transfer modalities were also instituted, including the establishment of S&T-based Farms (STBF) in collaboration with progressive farmers. With these technology transfer activities, various IEC materials were developed such as the Investment Package for Lakatan and the various farm primers written in local dialect.
The various interventions for Lakatan production from site selection to packaging is collectively referred to as the “Package of Technology” (POT). The POT briefly describes the requirements from site selection to plant establishment. It defines the fertilization schedule and the cultural management practices that will enable good quality and high quantity of harvest. When applied, the POT will transform the backyard farm into a smallhold banana plantation.
With the introduction of the POT, farmers started quitting from the kundiman practice. As they adopt the POT, they harvest bigger fruits with better quality, commanding higher market price and more profit. From the use of ‘disease-free’ planting materials to plant establishment, fertilization, and application of proper cultural management practices including proper spacing, sanitation, desuckering, and other pest management practices, the farmers harvest more than they expected – making them more productive and progressive banana farmers.
Hence, in Lakatan production, we say, kundiman no more!
The different projects on banana are just some of the DOST-PCAARRD initiatives to improve the state of R&D in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources sectors. This is in keeping with PCAARRD’s commitment under DOST’s Outcome One: to provide science-based know-how and tools that will enable the agricultural sector to raise productivity to world-class standards.
PCAARRD’s commitment on Outcome One will be showcased during the National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) on July 24-28 at SMX Mall of Asia, Pasay City, with the theme Philippines: A Science Nation Innovating for Global Competitiveness.