This coming Saturday, Onctober 20, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon we will conduct a lecture on the money-making opportunities in exotic fruit trees. This will be at the QC Country Fair at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

  This is part of a series of lectures during the four days of the Country Fair which is under the auspices of the Cactus and Succulent Society of the Philippines headed by Dorie S. Bernabe in cooperation with the Quezon City administration.

  We will share our own experiences in growing exotic fruits that include local as well as imported varieties. One of the fruits that will be discussed is the Abiu which is a native of South America but which has now become popular in the Philippines as well as in other countries such as Malaysia and Australia.

  This fruit tree is small compared to most other fruit trees. It produces fruits that are bright yellow when ripe. The white flesh is delicious. Its taste somewhat resembles that of the caimito but some say it tastes better. The Abiu will bear fruit even when it is grown in a container.  It usually produces fruits in succession so that one can harvest from a tree two times a year.

  Our experiences in inducing profuse fruiting of the Longkong and Duku lanzones will also be shared. We will talk about our experience in spraying the Power Grower Combo and Heavy Weight Tandem fertilizer formulations of Alfonso G. Puyat. The same fertilizers also enabled Gen. Recaredo Sarmiento to induce two fruitings of his Duku lanzones this year.

  Two varieties of Vietnam pummelos will also be discussed. These are the Nam Roi and Dha Xanh varieties which produce big fruits with flesh that is either white or pink or red. The fruits are big compared to the Magallanes pummelo usually grown in Davao. One fruit we harvested recently weighed 3.2 kilos. The flesh readily separates from the skin and it is also very juicy and sweet. There is no after-taste like those of some varieties.

  The latexless jackfruit is another exotic fruit that offers excellent money-making opportunities. This has orange flesh that is plump and sweet.  One can make money by selling the ripe fruit, processing the same, or propagating the seeds for sale.

  Other exotic fruit trees to be discussed are the prize-winning varieties of rambutan, hybrid durian from Malaysia, imported makopa varieties, variegated orange, Perante orange, Key lime and many others.

  The lecture is open free to the public. By the way, in the morning, Dr. Teddy F. Tepora will lecture on dragon fruit production. The dragon fruit is also becoming increasingly popular in the country.

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