December 12, 2022. Have you ever wondered how the staple Filipino fruit can be graded based on its quality? Fret not; because the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS) released an Illustrative Guide (IG) for the Philippine National Standards (PNS) on table bananas, to address this concern.
The IG serves as supplementary learning material to visualize the provisions of the PNS/BAFPS 64:2008 Fresh fruits - Banana, particularly on the grading and classification of table bananas. It was drafted in collaboration with the Technical Working Group composed of experts from different institutions.
In a 2021 United Nations - Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, the Philippines inched the second spot as the largest banana exporter despite the 33.58% decline in shipments and tough competition with Latin American countries. This trade data emphasizes the need to improve the quality of Philippine banana products.
Wanna know more? Visit the BAFS website at http://bafs.da.gov.ph to download the IG and other knowledge products. ###