IBA, Zambales — The Provincial government has greenlit the P50-million Zambales Mango Green Valley Project that aims to expand the mango production in the province.

According to Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., the four-year pioneering program will promote, expand and sustain the production of Zambales’ renowned carabao mango or dinamulag mango. He added that the P50-million budget will be used to increase yield per hectare, and strengthen the mango value chain to further develop and sustain the mango industry.

“This is the first comprehensive effort to modernize and revitalize what has always been Zambales’ pride, the Dinamulag mango,” Ebdane said.

“The project will include integrated crop management, technological and environmental sustainability inputs, and marketing support to help local mango growers and traders become more competitive,” he added.

Initially, some P6.46 million has been granted to the Samahang Magmamangga ng Zambales to establish modern mango production areas at the 31.6-hectare Batungbacal Farm in Palauig town and the government-owned Sitio Buen farm in Botolan. A third site, the 24-hectare Alma’s Farm in Iba, will be part of the project, but will be funded privately.

“These will serve as pilot farms to showcase modern mango production methods for wider promotion and adoption by local mango growers,” Ebdane said.

The governor added that after the establishment of modern production areas, which constitutes Phase 1 of the Mango Valley Project, the Zambales provincial government, led by the Provincial Agricultural Office, will undertake starting next year the rehabilitation and rejuvenation of existing mango trees in the province under Phase 2, and also establish carabao mango nurseries under Phase 3.

According to Arnel Abayan, supervising agriculturist at the Zambales Provincial Agriculture Office, the project will actively promote and expand the cultivation of the “Sweet Elena” strain of the Zambales carabao mango variety, which originates in Santa Cruz, the northernmost town in the province.

This strain made it to the Guinness Book of Records in 1995 as the world’s sweetest. It is also popular because of its superiority in terms of sweetness, size, soluble solids, edibility of flesh, as well as physical appearance.

Abayan said that recent records placed provincial mango production at only 17,975.31 metric tons from 396,181 trees in a total area of 7,558 hectares, or an average yield of only 2.378 tons per hectare, which is way below the national average of 12 tons per hectare. The project seeks to attain or even surpass the national average yield, he added.

According to the project design, the P6.46-million budget for Phase 1 will be spent for land clearing, flower induction, chemical application, fruit bagging, irrigation and fertilization, as well as security and harvesting.

Phase 2, which involves the rehabilitation and rejuvenation by pruning of 20,800 mango trees in the province from 2025 to 2028 will cost P40 million at P1,013.22 per tree. This is expected to increase production by 50 to 60 percent of the yield per tree, which was previously recorded at 42 kilos.