DRAGON FRUIT TAKES CENTER STAGE AT QC COUNTRY FAIR — The dragon fruit will be given special attention at the Quezon City Country Fair which will be held at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City from October 17 to 21.

After Agrilink, follows another event that should also attract a lot of farming and gardening enthusiasts.

This is the Quezon City Country Fair that is slated to open in the afternoon of Wednesday, October 17, and will run through Sunday, October 21. This will be held at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City which is becoming a usual venue for garden shows and other  agricultural events.

The Country Fair is a project of the Cactus & Succulent Society of the Philippines headed by Dorie S. Bernabe in cooperation with the Quezon City administration.

One plant that will be given special attention is the dragon fruit which happens to be a cactus. It has become the advocacy of the club members to promote the planting of this cactus that bears edible fruits that are also claimed to have medicinal properties.

Although relatively new in the Philippines, the dragon fruit is becoming increasingly popular as a commercial fruit crop as well as a plant for hobbyists.

One celebrity hobbyist who has been successful in growing dragon fruit is actress Susan Roces. And soon after the publicity about her dragon fruit in the Bulletin publications (English as well as the vernacular magazines), so many readers have contacted us wanting to know where they could buy their own planting materials.

In pursuance of the advocacy, Dr. Teddy F. Tepora, the acknowledged expert on the production as well as processing of the fruits of dragon fruit, will conduct a lecture on dragon fruit production in the morning of Saturday, October 20, at the show site. He is head of the research team that has been conducting studies on the proper planting of dragon fruit as well as the processing of the fruits into different products like juice, puree, wine, jelly and others.

Incidentally, the organizers are hopeful that Ms. Susan Roces will be able to grace the opening of the Country Fair. Mrs. Bernabe said she sent an invitation to the veteran actress who has inspired many other people to plant dragon fruit.

Aside from dragon fruit, there will be a lot of other interesting exhibits. Aloe vera, which is a succulent, will also get a special billing at the Country Fair. The members of the Society will be showcasing their rare cacti and other prized ornamentals, orchids and other flowering plants.

Pets and exotic small animals will also be exhibited for the benefit not only of the city folks but also people from the countryside. The animals include native pigs, turkeys, ducks, goats, sheep, bantam chickens, free-range chickens, rabbits and the like.

According to Mrs. Bernabe, there will be a series of lectures and demonstrations on timely farming and gardening topics. There will be cooking demonstrations, including cooking edible cacti.

A lot of plant growers, nursery operators and animal raisers will be making their products available in the commercial section. There will be planting materials of exotic fruit trees like longkong lanzones, durian, mangosteen, pummelos and many others. There will also be fresh fruits, vegetables, various processed food products, health and wellness products, regional delicacies and many more.

Dr. Rene Sumaoang promised to do the cooking of “Lechon na Tupa” right in the Country Fair so people could have a taste of this special delicacy.

Mrs. Bernabe says that the Country Fair is open free to the public so that as many people as possible will be able to appreciate products from the countryside. School children have been invited to visit the fair.

By the way, the holding of the Country Fair will coincide with the launching of the Tropical Garden at the Quezon Memorial Circle. Yuyung LaO  headed the landscaping of the Tropical Garden.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bernabe said that one objective of the Country Fair is to generate funds for a proposed project of a Children’s Garden at the Quezon Memorial Circle which will serve as a venue for basic gardening lectures and demonstrations towards environment protection, arts and crafts learning for entrepreneurial awakening. She also envisions a monthly feeding program for nearby barangay children.

By the way, in the afternoon of October 20, starting at 2 o’clock, we will lecture on Money-Making Opportunities in Exotic Fruit Trees.

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