PHILIPPINE banana exports fell 2.97% in 2024, with the industry currently dealing with Fusarium wilt, also known as Panama disease, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

In its Banana Market Review, the FAO said that preliminary data indicate that exports of Philippine bananas dropped to 2.28 million metric tons (MMT) in 2024.

The Philippines has ceded its position as the third-leading banana exporter in 2023 and is now fourth.

Fusarium wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease that blocks the banana plant’s vascular system and deprives it of minerals, nutrients, and moisture. Affected plants turn yellow and die.

The Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain of fusarium wilt was first detected in Davao City in 2009 and continues to threaten the Cavendish banana, the main export variety.

“Supplies from the Philippines, the main exporter from the region, reportedly continue to be affected by the spread of TR4,” the FAO added.

The United Nations agency said that the spread of the disease has continued to cause production losses, with disease containment efforts also adding to the industry’s financial burdens.

“Producers faced added difficulty stemming from unfavorable exchange rates amid the depreciation of the dollar in the first half of (2024),” the FAO added.

Citing the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, it added that about 51,000 hectares out of the 89,000 hectares of land available for banana cultivation continued to be operational amid the spread of TR4.

The group had also said that the rising geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea additionally affected some exports of Philippine bananas.

Manila and Beijing have repeatedly clashed in the disputed waterway, with both sides accusing each other of raising tensions.

China claims over 80% of the waterway, but the Permanent Court of Arbitration voided its claim in 2016, which Beijing rejects.

Despite tensions China remained among the Philippines’ top Cavendish banana markets.

Chinese imports of Philippine bananas dropped 39% year on year over the first nine months of 2024.

Additionally, the FAO said global banana exports declined 1% to 19.1 MMT.

“Developments in the first half of 2024 showed strongly diverging trends among global banana exporting countries, with most suppliers affected by declines, in several cases even at double-digit rates, and only a few seeing large increases,” it added. — Adrian H. Halili