Ex-NPA chief Bernabe Buscayno of Talaga, Capas, Tarlac and Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan are both producers of organic bananas. The methods of these close friends, however, are very different. Catacutan is into the scientific, while “Kumander Dante ” practices what he calls primitive banana production that he learned from the natives when he was in the boondocks.
Buscayno started venturing in banana production in 2004. But before this, he was producing rice. He had even established a rice farmers’ cooperative after then President Corazon Aquino granted him a reprieve. The co-op unfortunately fell apart because the 2,000 members were affected by the Mt. Pinatuba eruption in 1991.
Buscayno was encouraged by his friend who was working at the Lorenzo Farms in Davao to plant banana instead of rice as the return of investment with banana is more substantial. He was convinced of its potential and so he ordered 4,000 tissue-cultured seedlings from the Lorenzo Farms. He bought cavendish, lakatan, and latundan varieties at P30 each.
He initially planted more than 2 hectares of his 32-hectare farm at a plant density of 1,500-2,000 banana seedlings per hectare at a planting distance of 2 m x 2 m for lakatan and latundan. For the cavendish bananas, he adjusted the planting distance according to the height of the plant as these were quite tall so more spaces were needed.
However, the first impression of visitors on his banana farm is that he must be a very a lazy farmer as weeds and insect pests proliferate. There’s practically no post-planting care:
What they do not know is that Buscayno did it on purpose. When he was a rebel he learned from the natives that “the natural balance between cultured crops and surrounding vegetation that includes weeds should be maintained to produce truly organic crops.” He explained further that weeds eventually die due to lack of exposure to sunlight as the banana trees shade them. And when the weeds die, these will decompose and become natural fertilizers for the banana trees.
“Weeds have the capacity to accumulate nitrogen from the air and absorb other natural elements from the soil and its decomposition under cultured bananas assures production of truly organic crops,” Buscayno added.
Catacutan, on the other hand, prefers the scientific approach to organic farming. He bought seedlings of the same varieties from tissue culture laboratories of Tarlac College of Agriculture and Central Luzon State University. He had his land prepared using tractors.
He uses chicken dung as basal fertilizer, and he initially applies a bag of dung for every two to three seedling holes. Second application is done four months after planting, and this is when he puts additional chicken dung about three feet from the base of the plant. Post-planting care is done regularly to prevent the growth of weeds.
Like Buscayno, Catacutan does not spray insecticides. He instead smudges the plants when he observes presence of insect pests. Both of them however shun the common practice of encasing banana bunches in plastic bags as they observed that fruits tend to burn under local conditions. Hence, they opted to cover the bunches with banana leaves.
Catacutan spends about P80,000 to 100,000 per hectare, while Buscayno shells out P50,000 to P70,000 per hectare. But both of them can sell organic bananas at P25 per kilo and earn a gross income of P250,000 to P350,000 per hectare.
“A farmer can earn a maximum net income of P20,000 with rice and at least P40,000 with yellow corn. But with organic bananas, a farmer can realize an income of at least P100,000 to P150,000 per hectare,” says Catacutan.PRODUCING BANANA SEEDLINGS The biggest initial capital investment in banana production is the purchase of tissue-cultured banana seedlings. Why?
First of all the common practice in banana culture is to propagate suckers from mother plants. But this practice is discouraged because the original characteristics of the tissue-cultured mother plant degenerates; the original characteristics are best retained only in the first two suckers. So in order to have quality plants, farmers need to buy tissue-cultured seedlings, which are quite costly.
Buscayno and Catacutan thought of raising banana seedlings at a lower cost to encourage other farmers to venture in banana production. And by researching, they found out that the original characteristics of a tissue-cultured banana plant can be retained by selecting healthy mother plants as source of seedlings.
Here’s how they do it. Just before flowering, the original meriplants are cut and uprooted. The corm of the mother plants contain four to five buds-farmers call these eyes and these are separated and planted individually in black polyethylene seedling bags. In two weeks, banana seedlings would be ready for transplanting.
With this practice, they can produce and sell seedlings at half the price of the tissue-cultured seedlings and hence, initial investment cost is reduced.
Buscayno started venturing in banana production in 2004. But before this, he was producing rice. He had even established a rice farmers’ cooperative after then President Corazon Aquino granted him a reprieve. The co-op unfortunately fell apart because the 2,000 members were affected by the Mt. Pinatuba eruption in 1991.
Buscayno was encouraged by his friend who was working at the Lorenzo Farms in Davao to plant banana instead of rice as the return of investment with banana is more substantial. He was convinced of its potential and so he ordered 4,000 tissue-cultured seedlings from the Lorenzo Farms. He bought cavendish, lakatan, and latundan varieties at P30 each.
He initially planted more than 2 hectares of his 32-hectare farm at a plant density of 1,500-2,000 banana seedlings per hectare at a planting distance of 2 m x 2 m for lakatan and latundan. For the cavendish bananas, he adjusted the planting distance according to the height of the plant as these were quite tall so more spaces were needed.
However, the first impression of visitors on his banana farm is that he must be a very a lazy farmer as weeds and insect pests proliferate. There’s practically no post-planting care:
What they do not know is that Buscayno did it on purpose. When he was a rebel he learned from the natives that “the natural balance between cultured crops and surrounding vegetation that includes weeds should be maintained to produce truly organic crops.” He explained further that weeds eventually die due to lack of exposure to sunlight as the banana trees shade them. And when the weeds die, these will decompose and become natural fertilizers for the banana trees.
“Weeds have the capacity to accumulate nitrogen from the air and absorb other natural elements from the soil and its decomposition under cultured bananas assures production of truly organic crops,” Buscayno added.
Catacutan, on the other hand, prefers the scientific approach to organic farming. He bought seedlings of the same varieties from tissue culture laboratories of Tarlac College of Agriculture and Central Luzon State University. He had his land prepared using tractors.
He uses chicken dung as basal fertilizer, and he initially applies a bag of dung for every two to three seedling holes. Second application is done four months after planting, and this is when he puts additional chicken dung about three feet from the base of the plant. Post-planting care is done regularly to prevent the growth of weeds.
Like Buscayno, Catacutan does not spray insecticides. He instead smudges the plants when he observes presence of insect pests. Both of them however shun the common practice of encasing banana bunches in plastic bags as they observed that fruits tend to burn under local conditions. Hence, they opted to cover the bunches with banana leaves.
Catacutan spends about P80,000 to 100,000 per hectare, while Buscayno shells out P50,000 to P70,000 per hectare. But both of them can sell organic bananas at P25 per kilo and earn a gross income of P250,000 to P350,000 per hectare.
“A farmer can earn a maximum net income of P20,000 with rice and at least P40,000 with yellow corn. But with organic bananas, a farmer can realize an income of at least P100,000 to P150,000 per hectare,” says Catacutan.PRODUCING BANANA SEEDLINGS The biggest initial capital investment in banana production is the purchase of tissue-cultured banana seedlings. Why?
First of all the common practice in banana culture is to propagate suckers from mother plants. But this practice is discouraged because the original characteristics of the tissue-cultured mother plant degenerates; the original characteristics are best retained only in the first two suckers. So in order to have quality plants, farmers need to buy tissue-cultured seedlings, which are quite costly.
Buscayno and Catacutan thought of raising banana seedlings at a lower cost to encourage other farmers to venture in banana production. And by researching, they found out that the original characteristics of a tissue-cultured banana plant can be retained by selecting healthy mother plants as source of seedlings.
Here’s how they do it. Just before flowering, the original meriplants are cut and uprooted. The corm of the mother plants contain four to five buds-farmers call these eyes and these are separated and planted individually in black polyethylene seedling bags. In two weeks, banana seedlings would be ready for transplanting.
With this practice, they can produce and sell seedlings at half the price of the tissue-cultured seedlings and hence, initial investment cost is reduced.
PAPAYA PRODUCTIONThe maturity period of banana is 10 months, which is quite long to realize return of investment in a shorter time. Buscayno and Catacutan planted papaya plants in between banana plants as papaya starts to yield in just six months. Harvesting is done on a weekly basis. but up to a year and a half only.
As of now, Buscayno is ahead of Catacutan in papaya production as his crop is already fruiting. He harvests 1.5 tons to 1.7 tons per week, and he sells these at P 14 per kilo.
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