MANILA, Philippines -- One fellow who is proving that there is more money to be earned from farming than from one’s employment is Reynaldo Hilario of Brgy. Caanipahan, Talavera, Nueva Ecija.

He resigned his job as electrical control operator of the National Power Corporation after working for more than 17 years to concentrate on high-value vegetable production. He is farming on 3.5 hectares that his family owns, one hectare of which is devoted to rice while the rest is for vegetable production.

One of the recent varieties he planted on 3,000 square meters was the Ambassador cucumber variety developed by the East-West Seed Company. From that crop, he was able to harvest 20 tons in a growing period of just over two months. Although he sold his harvest at only P5 per kilo, he was able to gross P100,000. He estimated that he spent only P16,800 that included the cost of seeds, fertilizers, labor and other inputs.

Earlier, he had produced bumper crops of ampalaya, especially the Galaxy variety. He observes that Galaxy fruits are preferred by customers and command a premium price in the market. In addition, Galaxy is resistant to pests and diseases. Another variety from East-West that he plants is the Galactica which is resistant to the virus disease called “namamarako.” He plants this during the months of October to February.

Rey has received awards for his achievements in vegetable farming. In 2009, he received the “Natatanging Magsasaka Award” from Talavera Mayor Nery Santos. And in recognition of his knowledge, he was named Magsasaka Siyentista by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Hilario’s farm is now used as a science and technology-based demo farm for off-season production of vegetables. He is well respected in his community and fellow farmers regularly go to him for advice on vegetable production.

New varieties to watch– Meanwhile, Ric Reyes of East-West Seed Company tells us that East-West researchers are continually developing new varieties to keep up with the demand of the changing times.

One new variety that he is very excited about is a new kangkong that has been christened kangkong Pinoy. This is said to have narrower leaves that are quite upright so that the harvested crop is easier to package for the market. On top of that Kangkong Pinoy said to produce 20 percent higher yield than the currently planted Chinese kangkong. The taste is also claimed to be better and is more crunchy.

Klasika is the name of a new white glutinous corn that will soon be launched in the market. This has big ears that are sweet and very glutinous. Farmers who have sampled the cooked ears at a gathering in Iloilo were unanimous about the potential of Klasika. They asked East-West to hurry up and come up with the seeds for planting.

Soon to be launched is a new papaya hybrid that is an improvement of the old Sinta papaya. It is called Cariñosa and is said to have a better tolerance to the papaya ring spot virus.

Another new variety that will soon be released is a white cucumber which produces very uniform fruits. The new hybrid is also said to be more tolerant to the common cucumber diseases.

For watermelon lovers, East-West is coming up with a hybrid that has dark green rind. It produces big fruits that are at least five kilos each. The good thing about this is that it has a long shelf life of 30 days. The yield per hectare is also high - 30 tons up.

Astig is the name of a hot pepper that is smaller than the Red Hot variety. It was developed to meet the requirement of a segment of the market that requires this particular size.