Philippines overflows with millions of mangoes as El Niño takes effect

The Philippines is struggling under the weight of a sweet but troublesome burden: a glut of 2m mangos.

The Philippines government has launched cooking
classes to inspire people with mango recipes.

The agriculture secretary, Emmanuel Piñol, said mango farmers had reported an “unusual increase” in the harvest, which they had attributed to El Niño, the climate phenomenon that has led to unusually hot, dry weather this year.

One the Philippine island of Luzon alone there is a surplus of about 2m kg of mangoes, according to Piñol, an oversupply that has led the price to drop from 58 pesos (88p) to as low as 25 pesos (38p) per kilogram.

Piñol stressed the urgency of dealing with the glut before the fruit went to waste and sent the price of mangos crashing further, hurting farmers. “We need to do something about this in the next two weeks,” he added.

Read the story from The Guardian by Hannah Ellis-Petersen - “Philippines overflows with millions of mangoes as El Niño takes effect.”