BIOPHYSICAL IMPACTS

As in all commercial banana industries in the tropics, extensive use of fertiliser and chemicals had major environmental impacts at  Lapanday. A major problem for workers was exposure to toxic chemicals which caused skin problems and respiratory illnesses. Aerial spraying of the growing plants was also carried out regularly causing chemicals to settle on adjacent farms and villages because of wind drift. Most people in the Davao area drink rain water collected from roof-tops which often became contaminated with aerial sprays. Creeks and rivers near the plantation often became affected and a major problem was the inadequate disposal of large numbers of plastic bags used during growing periods.

After 1976, the large quantities of chemical inputs began to damage the soil and yields fell rapidly. The family's response was to borrow money to develop a new plantation on nearby land but their sales of bananas to Del Monte dropped and, with falling profits and large debts, the family sold  Lapanday
to a group of Del Monte's Filipino managers in 1982. The company tried to institute better management practices to maintain commercial yields on the plantation.

Throughout Southeastern Mindanao, the long-term ecological sustainability of export banana production has become a controversial issue with better environmental management essential for survival but raising costs of production in a very competitive global market