Local mango producers are linking up and joining efforts in order to directly penetrate the growing export market.

This is the aim of the First Davao Mango Producers Conference organized by the Davao Region Mango Contractors Association, Inc. (Daremca).

The first of its kind in the country, the conference aims to create a network that will strengthen the capabilities of local producers to meet international demands for mango and mango products as well as be knowledgeable of the standards they have to meet.

According to Daremca President Ednar Carlos Dayanghirang in a press conference Tuesday, the locals are left out even if Mindanao is the biggest mango producer in the country.

"Luzon producers have been buying from Mindanao through Davao but the sad thing is they only do so during off-season," Dayanghirang said.

Dayanghirang added that Mindanao produce reach the export market only through the Luzon producers, which should not be so.

"As the biggest producers, Mindanao should be leading the industry instead of the other way around. We have enough to supply local as well as export demands and we should be able to responsibly exploit that strength," Dayanghirang said.

The group aims to have a direct shipping to the general market including China, Hong Kong, and Japan separate from that of Luzon producers.

Dayanghirang said it would have been acceptable if Luzon buyers bought local produce all year-round, but since they don't then locals are having a hard time to regain their capital.

"We will be at lost since we have plenty of produce, and yet they do not buy it...that is why we have to find a way to directly sell in the export market that needs the produce," Dayanghirang said.

Proof of Mindanao's strength is the fact that it practically supplies the whole export market for mangoes during the off-peak season.

"Refocusing the mind of Davao producers that thrusting towards exporting is viable for us is one of the goals of the conference," Dayanghirang said.

The conference is comprised of four major categories -- Mango Production and Mango Farm Maintenance, Mango Postharvets, Logistics, and Mango Marketing and with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap as keynote speaker.

Tani Wenceslao, Mindanao sales manager of DuPont--a company that markets fertilizer and crop protection products, said this is only the first half of the whole plan.

Their second move includes developing the local market through increasing the mango-eating habits of locals from the present seven kilos per person in a year to 15 kilos per person in a year.

"We are also planning to put up a Mango Festival featuring all kinds of mango recipes," Wenceslao said.

This, according to them will not only strengthen the mango industry but will be an added attraction for the city's tourism endeavors.