Samal Island Mangoes
The Island Garden City of Samal is hoping to soon be known for something other than it’s beautiful beaches and resorts.
“We are focusing on IGaCoS to be the next mango-exporter. IGaCoS has many features similar to Guimaras.”
“First it has distinct dry and rainy seasons, mangoes need rain to water them, but when these trees are flowering dapat hindi yan uulan o else ma-wa-wash out. So dapat distinct ang rainy season and dry season. That’s the weather of Samal.” Jun Encarnacion chief of the Davao del Norte Provincial Agricultural Office said.
At the present there are already 22,270 fruit bearing mango trees of the “carabao variety”, and another 57,052 three-year-old trees already planted in IGaCoS.
Samal Island or IGaCoS has pronounced dry and rainy seasons, its Bolinao clay-type soil, highly acidic corraline limestone in origin, makes up the perfect ingredients of another dollar earning mango-export industry in the mold of Guimaras.
Stepping in the right track, in a business move that started two months ago Dole Philippines, a multi-national fruit processing company has been purchasing mangoes directly from the fruit growers of IGaCoS, a testament of the quality of Samal’s mangoes.
With a ripening future, the province is hoping to improve the quality and quantity of its mango production as it hopes to fill-in the country’s mango demand from January to December.
The full PIA article can be found here.
Hi Randy, I tried those mangoes here – bought from the local market in Babak. They are very good. What people don’t realize is that there are some fruits grown here (not in Davao) – like sineguelas. I was told it is the lime-rich soil. When you drive around you can see lots of mango tree farms. There is lots of work involved – like wrapping each mango with newspaper, to prevent worms/insects/fruit bats from attacking them. And we know there are lots of bats here
Hi Ellen – it sounds like it's a perfect combination of the lime rich soil and the wet & dry seasons that make it so ideal. I've not tried Samal mangoes yet, but I will. We hope to have a tree for us on our property.
That does sound pretty labor intensive. Maybe our tree will have to be pretty small
Nah – not unless you grow for commercial reasons. My parents have 3 different types of mangoes in Davao.I don’t see them wrapped. But they have the green type, not the yellow ones in your picture. Maybe the yellow ones need more care. The mango trees are nice and they will provide real good shade for you – don’t think they will remain small
for you.
Well the shade sounds good. I’m used to having some big trees around. I’m not sure what exactly is on the property at the moment, but there could already be some.
Don’t really know my varieties either. Guess I’ll need to check into that, if we will be bringing a tree in.