But not the land of piña colada..

The islands in the Philippine archipelago are of volcanic origin. This means that the soil is rich in minerals and suitable for many different types of plants. Tropical climate enhances the possibilities of better crops even further. Of course there are also downsides to these conditions: frequent geological activity and high probability of natural disasters. These can include: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons and more.

Why am I writing about this? A large portion of Philippine economy still relies on agriculture. Because of this crops play a vital role in everyday life. About 30% of the labour force works in agriculture. And Mindanao has a huge part in country’s agro-industry. Very huge. It is considered “fruit basket”of the Philippines and many multinational fruit exporters have their regional headquarters here (although not in GenSan but in Davao).

Much of the fields in the vicinity of GenSan are used for growing bananas, pineapples, mangoes and more. Below are some photos of the pineapple field (the fruit is called here piña or pinya).

Spoiled for choice here:

On our way to a banana field we were stopped by some locals. It was Friday afternoon and according to local legends at this time of the week the water spirits are gathering close to a river nearby and don’t want to be disturbed. And considering the fact that I am not local they could get really angry. You don’t want to anger the water spirits (or any other deities for that matter as already mentioned in the post about the Temple of Leah).

So this is the farthest I was allowed to go:

The path to the field is on the left

I had no other choice but to take a few photos using my phone and go back.

In the next post we will still be around GenSan. And you will find out what Matutum is..