The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking forward to increasing the export of okra or lady's fingers to Japan/

Agriculture Undersecretary for High Value Crops Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero said that Japan is very open to increasing imports of Okra from the Philippines as they view the country as a good source of agricultural produce.

"I think they are very open to the Philippines; they see us as a good source. So we just have to level up our quality control further if we want to expand it, even the string beans... big bottle gourd, they do the brining, brine solution here and then export to Japan," she said.

As part of its effort to increase the exports of okra, Caballero stressed the need to improve its local production and expand the Philippine Good Agricultural Practices (PhilGAP) certified farms in the country.

"We have a big export of okra. What we need is to expand our Phil-GAP certified farm so that they will be able to pass in their compliance on the maximum residue level. So, our exports are consistent. In fact, those that are rejected can go as low as P5 to P10 per kilo. But the premium goes direct to Japan and the processing facilities are in Central Luzon," she said.

"This time, we have to strongly bring in the local government units for the regulatory part because in the Bureau of Plant Industry we can help in the certification for the PhilGAP. But in terms of policing the area to make sure that this is not your usual farms that are heavily dependent on chemicals then that has to be worked out at a local level," she added.

Caballero said the DA is "looking at increasing the production area and working with the local government unit so that the regulation on the use of chemicals (the integrated pest management) will be an established practice."

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic the Philippines has resumed the export of okra to Japan in 2020 and also begin sending these to South Korea in 2021. Robina Asido/DMS