Filipinos Can Make Money Growing Pepper and Tropical Fruits – Filipino farmers should begin developing and growing the popular spice black pepper and other native tropical fruits as the world market awaits supply of these commodities that can abundantly grow in the country.
Opportunities in pepper trade abound even as India where pepper takes its origin has already started importing pepper. Before, India is an exporter of black pepper but it hasn’t increasing its area planted to this spice plant for lack of agricultural land. And with increasing population, it has now become a net importer.
In contrast, the Philippines though have large agricultural land and pepper can be grown here, food manufacturers also imports majority of its pepper requirement. Black pepper is the queen of spices. That’s why it’s called ‘salt and pepper’ and not something else. It can grow naturally here, related wild varieties like nganga (betel nut) grow her. Why are we not developing it? Everybody is importing it because there’s no supply.
Mostly Asian countries are supplying the need for black pepper, the most widely used of all spices. Over the last few years, Vietnam has become world’s largest pepper exporter, 82,000 metric tons (MT) as of 2003. Other suppliers in the same year were Indonesia, 67,000 MT; India, 65,000MT; Brazil, 35,000MT; Malaysia, 22,000 MT; Sri Lanka, 12,750 MT; Thailand and China.
The need for the country to massively propagate commodities that it can trade extensively in the market is apparent. With that, it is obvious how tropical fruits can be sure winners.
Tropical fruits are what being sought in the world market now. That’s why Dole and Del Monte are here because banana, papaya, pineapple, mangoes are demanded in the market. Nobody wants apples and grapes anymore.
Source: Melody Aguiba, Manila Bulletin