Should we rob them of their wealth?

Should we rob them of their wealth?

Aerial spraying of fungicides in the vast banana plantations of Mindanao is safe. GPS-controlled mechanisms are now employed in all banana plantation spray runs since it reduces the volume of fungicide used.

Dr. Emily Fabregar, technical committee chief of the Philippne Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), made this assurance during her presentation of a paper on “Global Positioning System (GPS): A New Technology for Farm Application,” during the foundation celebration of the University of the Philippines - Mindanao (UP-Min) in Davao City.

Dr. Fabregar said the use of GPS has greatly reduced the risk to humans since the system automatically shuts of spraying equipment when it leaves the target area.

She said the “intelligent spraying” systems employed by PBGEA are also controlled via GPS. The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) requires 50-meter defaults along the area perimeters of the plantations to be sprayed. Showing a video clip of an actual aerial spray run by a PBGEA fixed-wing plane, the cut-off mechanism clearly showed that the misty spray stopped before reaching the boundaries (identified by a river in the clip) with enough room to spare. This should allay concerns expressed by some quarters regarding off-target spraying in banana plantations.

GPS allows no room for pilot error that may cause drift or off-target spraying. The fungicides are sprayed on banana plants to prevent a fungus called “sigatoka” from spreading. This fungus attacks banana leaves and causes premature ripening and freckles on the fruits. With premature ripening and freckles, bananas cannot pass export quality control. With the help of the aerial spraying, our banana planters in Mindanao earn huge income from exporting that helps uplift Mindanao’s, and even Philippines’, economy. Should we rob them of this wealth even if they’re doing the safest thing?