Philippines has a mango surplus of 4.4 million pounds and is selling them for dirt cheap

The Philippines is facing a fruity conundrum.

An unusually fruitful surplus of more than 4 million pounds of mangoes has resulted in a drastic decline in price.

Mangoes will be sold at around 18 to 43 cents a pound, according to the Philippine Agriculture Department, in order to prevent the crop from going bad. The goal is to sell half of the 4 million pounds by the end of June.

The Philippines will also launch a campaign called the Metro Mango Festival, which includes a mango festival that it hopes will result in more excitement for the fruit.

The bumper crop for mangoes this year was caused by El Niño’s impact on the area, which led weather conditions to be particularly conducive for mango growers.

“It’s a good phenomenon for us,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Pinol told the Manila Times. “The only problem is, our farmers weren’t able to immediately coordinate with us that they have expected oversupply.”

One farmer in Ilocos Sur, a Philippine province where mangoes have grown in particular excess, has taken to leaving bags of mangoes outside his farm.

“Anyone is free to take these mangoes, whether it’s neighbors or passersby,” reads his post on Facebook.

There has been some outside aid to this problem of riches: A Japanese fruit importer has pledged to import about 100 metric tons of mangoes.

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