 temporarily suspended outbound shipments of ube.){kind=link}
AFTER ENDLESSLY hyping on the revenue benefits that ube (fresh purple yam) can deliver for the country, the government backtracks to indefinitely ban ube exports because of the stiff competition among global producers to meet the booming global demand.
In an order issued in the middle of August, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) temporarily suspended outbound shipments of ube, scientifically known as dioscorea alata, “effective immediately until further notice,” the Business Mirror reported.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the temporary ban would protect the country’s planting material from a potential wave of poaching among other nations.
“We don’t want to export planting material. We severely lack it ourselves and other countries might use it to compete with us,” Laurel said.
The BPI said ongoing policy reforms also prompted the agency to temporarily halt outbound shipments of the crop.
“In view of ongoing discussions to explicitly include fresh purple yam [dioscorea alata] among commodities subject to export restriction, and as an interim safeguard pending completion of the corresponding policy and regulatory processes, the export of fresh purple yam and its propagative planting materials is hereby temporarily suspended, effective immediately until further notice—regardless of the intended purpose of export, whether for consumption, planting, or research.”
Given this, BPI ordered its Plant Quarantine Stations (PQS) to suspend the issuance of phytosanitary certificates for shipments (PCS) of the crop and its propagative planting materials.
The Philippines has previously banned the export of raw commodities, such as mature coconuts, as part of government efforts to protect these from being poached by other countries.
The government has introduced a raft of efforts to boost the Philippine purple yam, as local production lags behind soaring domestic and global demand.
This includes P300 million in funding by DA to boost the domestic purple yam industry in 2027.
Several interventions to expand ube output are in the pipeline, such as expanding production of planting materials through tissue culture, community-based nurseries, and the mini-sett propagation technique.
Local purple yam stakeholders also recently created the United Ube PH Association Inc. to centralize initiatives that will strengthen local output and increase exports of the prized crop.