IBA, Zambales — As Zambales gears up for this year’s Dinamulag Mango Festival, the provincial government is intensifying its efforts to revitalize the local mango industry through a large-scale rehabilitation initiative.
Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. announced Monday that the province has entered the second phase of its flagship Zambales Mango Green Valley Project, a four-year, P50-million program aimed at boosting mango production, modernizing farming techniques, and ensuring long-term sustainability. The current phase focuses on rehabilitating and rejuvenating approximately 20,800 mango trees across the province, with a budget of P40 million.
Building on the groundwork laid in Phase 1—where demonstration farms showcased modern mango production methods—Phase 2 now shifts to improving the health and yield of existing carabao mango trees. This includes enhanced farm management, fertilization, and irrigation practices.
A critical component of this phase, Ebdane emphasized, is capacity-building and training. The provincial government is partnering with the President Ramon Magsaysay State University (PRMSU) and the Samahan ng Magmamangga ng Zambales (SMZ) to equip farmers with the latest agricultural techniques.
Despite Zambales’ reputation for producing the country’s sweetest mangoes, the province’s yield remains significantly below the national average—at just 2.3 tons per hectare compared to the standard 12 tons. “Our goal is to match the national average while maintaining our mangoes’ superior quality,” Ebdane said. “This is the more challenging but essential part of sustaining our mango industry.”
While the annual Dinamulag Mango Festival has long promoted Zambales mangoes, Ebdane noted that the province only began serious industry-wide development last year with the launch of the Mango Green Valley Project.
To introduce modern farming techniques, the Zambales Mango Industry Council (ZMIC), through its technical working group, has established three pilot farms. Last December, the provincial government released P6.4 million in conditional assistance to SMZ, funding key interventions such as pre-spray clearing, flower induction, chemical application, fruit bagging, irrigation, security, and harvesting.
Looking ahead, Phase 3 of the project will launch next year, focusing on propagating the renowned Sweet Elena variety from Sta. Cruz, Zambales—recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1995 as the world’s sweetest mango. This phase will also establish a mango training center and a post-harvest processing facility, developed under a usufruct agreement with the Region 3 Mango Stakeholders Association, Inc. and supported by the Department of Agriculture’s High-Value Crops Development Program.
“The Mango Green Valley Project is an ongoing initiative,” Ebdane said. “Beyond production, we are now exploring branding, export opportunities, and even greenhouse cultivation to future-proof Zambales’ mango industry.”