Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Regalado M. Manalo, Ka Gudoy to his community, has a reason to be happy.
Showing his guests the good fruiting performance of the lanzones trees in his farm in Brgy. San Roque, Alaminos, Laguna, he attributed his lanzones production to the interventions he used. His improved management practices consisted of using inorganic fertilizer and mycovam; scrapping of insect-infested barks; using the Trichogramma to control bark borer; pruning judiciously infested twigs, dead branches, and water sprouts; and watering during the emergence of flower buds, especially during the dry months.
At the recent Science and Technology based Farm (STBF) technology field day, Ka Gudoy also shared that based on his partial budget analysis, he obtained an average yield increase of 5─6 kg/tree with an added income of P68, 280 from 250 trees. In contrast, using his traditional practice, some of his trees did not bear any fruit, while other trees produced only an average of 2─3kg.
Participants during the field day included officials from the local government units. Also present were officials and staff members of the Southern Tagalog Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (STARRDEC), Department of Agriculture-Southern Tagalog Integrated Area Research Center (DA-STIARC), PCARRD, and the lanzones growers in Alaminos.
Incidentally, though his farm is in Laguna, Ka Gudoy is the MS of the Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center of DA-STIARC in Marawoy, Lipa City
Assisting the MS in the implementation of the STBF project on lanzones are the Cavite State University, DA-STIARC FITS Center, STARRDEC, and PCARRD.