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Philippine Panorama, Sunday,
October 14, 2001
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Tiaong
Rambutan Festival - Most Enjoyable, Educational |
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by Zac B. Sarian |
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The
second rambutan festival at the farm of lawyer Victor P.
Lazatin in Tiaong, Quezon, last September 30 was not only
enjoyable to some 500 participants. It was also very
educational, especially to people who are intending to put
their own orchards.
The festival was most
enjoyable because the attendees who came in all ages, from
far and near, had the opportunity to pick from the heavily
laden trees juicy and sweet rambutan fruits. Even more
enjoyable, of course, was the fact that they could eat all
the fruits they cared to eat without having to pay for them.
Of course, there was a modest entrance fee of P100 in
exchange fro a pack-lunch of Pampango adobo and fruit juice. |
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Aside from eating all they cared to eat, most of the
more than 500 attendees had opted to bring home
kaings of fruits for which they paid just P30 per
kilo. One gentleman we saw brought home six kaings
for giving to friends and neighbors.
To some attendees, it was a special outing for the
whole family. Even three-year-olds could harvest
fruits without the aid of their parents or brothers
and sisters. Like a girl named Hannah, for instance.
She could harvest all she
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cared to eat because many of the
fruits were virtually touching the ground.
The
rambutan festival was also an occasion for employers to go
out with their employees as a group. Like the Wonder Workers
Group of Roger and Anne Collantes, for instance. Everybody,
to the last employee of the company, was there to enjoy
harvesting and eating Rongrein and R162 rambutan, two
imported varieties with superior taste.
Among the earliest arrival was the group of Councilor
Ed Reyes of Nagcarlan, Laguna, who purposely arrived ahead
of the other visitors so they could listen to a lecture on
fruit growing by Bernie Dizon, the consultant of Atty.
Lazatin.
Of course, the other participants also had their own
lecture and demo session with Bernie Dizon and the farm
owner. Atty. Lazatin gave useful pointers for those who
would like to put up their own fruit farms.
He stressed that the first thing to do is to plant the
right variety. Then plant the trees the right way and
provide them with the right management. When you are
starting a fairly big farm, he said, it pays to use a
backhoe not only to dig the holes for planting but to dig
drainage canals. He emphasized that if there is no adequate
drainage, the trees could succumb to root rot or some other
diseases brought about by waterlogging.
He also emphasized that seedlings should be spaced
properly. He himself said that he was guilty of planting his
trees to closely. Rambutan, he said, should be planted about
8-10 meters apart so they will not be overcrowded. Now he
has to eliminate some of his trees, a chore that could be
emotionally draining.
Bernie Dizon, Atty. Lazatin's consultant, demonstrated
how to prune the trees. The branches that don't receive any
sunlight are removed because they are useless. He also
demonstrated how to graft and how to produce double
rootstock planting materials. Almost all the fruit trees of
Atty. Lazatin have double rootstock. They have been proven
to be faster growing, earlier maturing and are more
resistant to strong winds. His five-year old rambutan with
double rootstock already produce as much 50 kilos of fruit.
This year's participants in the rambutan festival were
more than double then 200 or so attendees last year. Next
year, the attendees could even be more. That's because the
close to 1,000 lanzones trees (including duku and longkong)
will already be productive and it will probably become a
rambutan and lanzones festival.
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