Calbayog City — If durian is to Davao City, could jackfruit be to Calbayog City? The answer is a resounding yes, if you ask the participants of the recently concluded ‘Farmers’ Field Day’ held in this city. Fact is, the group gathered together to learn the strategies in managing jackfruit diseases, particularly those caused by a fungal pathogen called Phytophthora palmivora.
P. palmivora is considered as the scourge of jackfruit.
Farmers, researchers, extension workers, agricultural technicians, and local leaders are all upbeat about this fruit tree. Farmers who usually have a few trees in their backyard are now expanding their area to plant jackfruit because of the increasing demand for its fresh and processed products.
And the good news, according to Dr. Carlos de la Cruz of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Center (DA-RIARC) in Abuyog, Leyte, is that large areas in Samar and Leyte are very suitable for growing jackfruit. Researchers in Abuyog are at the forefront of variety improvement of jackfruit and production of planting materials.
Dr. de la Cruz further said that the encouraging development in the jackfruit industry has spurred DA to include jackfruit in its agenda and priority program in the region. It is even touted as the banner commodity of Eastern Visayas. Jackfruit production has been a part of DA’s ‘Plant Now, Pay Later’ project.
The local leaders also saw the importance of the Farmers’ Field Day for jackfruit as expressed by City Agriculturist Adela Ocenar who represented Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy. The local government viewed the activity as a way to improve the production of jackfruit and eventually increase the farmers’ income.
This optimism is shared by Dr. Lucia Borines, associate professor and project leader from the Visayas State University (VSU), who believed that through participatory action research, the decline in jackfruit production due to diseases could be arrested and a sustained increase in production can be achieved.
Combating the diseases is not only a local concern. Australian scientists are helping their Filipino counterparts. Dr. David Guest from the University of Sydney shared his expertise on P. palmivora. According to him, “P. palmivora is a common pathogen found in the soil that thrives well in the tropics and infects a wide variety of crops such as coconut, oil palm, cacao, papaya, durian, and jackfruit. Twenty percent of the global fungicide use is aimed at P. palmivora and related pathogens, hence its control and management is our major concern”.
Dr. Guest was joined by his co-project leader, Dr. Rosalie Daniels, who focused on how to lick the disease. She said, “In order to manage the disease, one should first identify the causal organism; understand the disease cycle and its epidemiology; and identify the control options”.
Daniels recommended the following strategies to succeed in jackfruit growing: start with disease-free planting materials; provide good drainage, mulching, and mounding; improve soil health by supplementing with compost, manure, vermin-cast; practice good sanitation that includes pruning and weeding; and use of chemical control.
Not to be outdone, the jackfruit growers also shared their knowledge and experiences on growing the crop. Engr. Miguel Pedroso, one of the project cooperators, told his audience that he observed a marked improvement in his jackfruit trees after he adopted the different interventions like sanitation and mulching. He confidently stated that “I could now effectively control Phytophthora disease in my farm, and I am expecting a further increase in jackfruit yield this coming season.”
Another farmer, Mr. Julio Muñoz, explained that almost 90 percent of his trees were affected by the disease but they recovered after the practices suggested by the project were applied. Some of these practices are tree pruning, construction of drainage canals, mounding, and addition of organic soil amendments. As a bonus, the participants witnessed how tree injection of phosphonate is done. Phosphonate is a chemical that causes the fungus to overproduce compounds which elicit a resistance response in jackfruit trees to Phytophthora disease.
The Farmers’ Field Day for the Jackfruit Phytophthora Disease Management is part of the extension activities of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and PCARRD Fruits Program. The program titled ”Integrated management of Phytophthora diseases of durian and jackfruit in the southern Philippines” is being implemented by VSU and DA-RIARC and monitored and coordinated by Los Baños-based PCARRD.