The last time in this column we featured some winning strategies in agriculture. Here are some more. We remember Alfredo Rivera, an agriculturist in Davao City who has a wide plantation of pummelo and bananas. He used to work for a banana company before giving up his job to engage in trading of fruits like pummelo, lanzones and rambutan. He bought fruits from farmers in Davao and sold them in Iloilo, Cebu and Manila.

He intentionally did this before putting up his own orchard. By doing so, he was able to know the ins and outs of marketing fruits. He came to know the reliable buyers. His knowledge of marketing also opened new opportunities besides starting his own orchard. He saw the profit potential of renting fruit orchards of professionals who didn’t have the expertise and the time to manage them right. Renting existing developed but poorly managed orchards is also profitable, according to him. Production starts virtually immediately and one does not have to invest in planting the trees yourself and waiting for a long time for the trees to start bearing.

DWARF CALAMANSI. We also remember the late Vicente Ferrazzini of Davao City. He had a calamansi plantation where the trees were allowed to grow just a little above five feet tall. The main trunk of each tree was pruned about three feet above the ground and the branches were allowed to develop all around. The low-growing crown is wide-spreading and well distributed. The middle is not allowed to grow too dense so that sunlight reaches every portion of the tree. This allows proper ventilation. Because of the low growth of the trees, it is very easy for the workers to spray the trees against pests and diseases. Also, it is also very convenient to harvest the fruits. The pickers don’t need a ladder.

FENCE THAT COULD NOT BE STOLEN. One OFW that we interviewed in Misamis Occidental planted a few hectares to mahogany. His problem was that stray animals would enter his property and damage his plants. If he fenced his farm with barbed wire or cyclone wire, that would be very expensive. Besides, people often steal the wire fence. So what did he do? He built a fence that no one could steal and no farm animal could penetrate. He dug a wide and deep canal all around his property. The deep canal also serves as a composting pit for the dried leaves and other farm refuse.