Pinoy Business Coach

AS Filipinos prepare to greet the year 2011 with “round” fruits on their dinner tables as a symbol of good luck, the Department of Agriculture (DA) urged consumers to also bring good luck to Filipino farmers by patronizing locally grown fruits.

“We have counterparts of the common imported fruits available in the market, and these are sold cheaper,” said Alcala in a statement.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) chief said in place of castañas, Filipinos can consume boiled peanuts instead. Instead of ponkan from Taiwan and China, consumers can eat dalandan from Mindoro, Batangas and Quezon.

As a replacement for imported oranges, the Philippines has Perante orange from Nueva Vizcaya and suha from Davao. Rambutan can be a good and cheaper substitute for canned lychees.

Other local fruits that can be served during the traditional media noche feast are chico, lanzones, buko-macapuno, honeydew watermelon, melon, siniguelas, guava, star apple, turnips, avocado, durian, marang, mangosteen and the plump señorita banana.

“It is important that we help create the demand for Philippine fruits so that more Filipinos will be encouraged to produce more if they feel the demand,” said Alcala.

Besides helping local farmers, purchasing locally grown fruits will be easier on the pockets of Filipinos as the produce are cheaper.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup noted that castañas, which sell for P260 a kilo is very expensive than peanuts, which sell at P70 per kilo.

“Dalandan is sold at P60 a kilo as against the P130 for ponkan oranges. Longan goes for P500 per kilo versus the lanzones, which retails for P120 per kilo,” said Salacup in a telephone interview.

Alcala said the DA has prioritized Philippine fruits in the Agri-Pinoy High Value Commercial Crops Program, which focuses on the productivity enhancement, research and development, organic farming, postharvest training, value adding and processing, and market access of the high-value commodities in the domestic and international fronts.

*Buy Filipino is an adage that definitely can help Philippine businesses achieve more.