Agriculture Business Week

One fellow who is is taking his farming seriously is Candelario “Larry” Miculob, 51, owner of a productive 14-hectare durian farm in Calinan, Davao City.

A certified public accountant with lots of agribusiness experience having been vice president for finance and administration of a big banana firm, he does not only believe in good agricultural production practices, he also believes that creative marketing should go hand in hand with production.

And that is why he is active in promotional activities like fruit festivals, trade expositions and market encounters. In fact, he is the chairman of the Minfruit Market Encounter which will be held in Davao City on July 31 and August 1. This will serve as an opportunity for farmers to meet owners and managers of processing plants, traders, exporters as well as suppliers of farm inputs.

At the market encounter, the processors and traders could tell the farmers the products they need most, the quantity they require as well as the standards that have to be met. Larry notes that farmers are hesitant to plant more of certain crops because they are not sure if there will be buyers when they make their harvests. On the other hand, processors are likewise hesitant to make new or additional investment because they are not also sure of the availability of raw materials.

Now, with the market encounter, producers, traders and processors could match their resources and requirements for their mutual benefits. The inputs and technology suppliers, too, can benefit from the market encounter.

Larry has been participating in fruit festivals which he and his colleagues have organized in Cebu and Metro Manila with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture as well as the Mindanao Fruit Industry Development Council or Minfruit. At the fruit festival in Metro Manila which ran from September 16 to middle of December of last year, Larry was able to sell about 80 tons of his own durian harvest. That included sales at the Agrilink trade expo. Last season, he had a bumper harvest of 170 tons from his 14 hectares of 14-year-old trees.

In 1996, when he was 39, Larry decided to give up his executive job at the banana firm so he could devote full time to his durian farm, which at that time the trees were already starting to bear fruit. He believes that to succeed in a farm project, one has to be a hands-on operator. That way he could monitor the developments on the farm all the time. If a problem arises, such as disease outbreak, the problem could be addressed immediately. Any delay could be disastrous.

Although he did not study agriculture in college, he has mastered durian production through reading as well as consulting with the experts. Aside from planting the recommended varieties like Puyat, Monthong and others, he has seen to it that the farm has sufficient drainage canals to prevent any waterlogging. Waterlogging favors the onset of phytophthora disease which is the most destructive enemy of durian trees.

Applying the right fertilizer is also very important. For this purpose, the routinely conducts soil test and foliar test to find out the nutrients which are deficient in his farm. He has retained the services of a soils expert who guides him in applying the right nutrients during different stages of plant growth and fruit development.

Durian is very sensitive to moisture availability in the soil. Lack of moisture in the soil is as equally damaging to the trees as too much water. To make sure that the trees are supplied with adequate water during the dry months, he has installed a drip irrigation system in his farm. The system is quite expensive but that is the best way to ensure good health and productivity of the trees. The -expense could be recovered in due time, anyway.

Larry also follows proper pruning. He particularly believes in what he calls spiral pruning of the branches. Under this technique, one fruiting branch should not be directly above the branch immediately under it. That way, there’s a better distribution of the branches and there’s a better flow of air. Good ventilation on the farm prevents the build up of disease organisms as well as the proliferation of insect pests. Besides pruning of branches, fruits are also thinned out if there are too many in one tree. The tree might not be able to adequately nurture the excess fruits and the size and eating quality could be adversely affected.

In recent years, Larry has recognized the potentials of other exotic fruits. That is why he has been intercropping longkong lanzones and mangosteen in his farm. Longkong is the lanzones from Thailand which commands a much higher price than the local variety. It is sweet, has small seeds and has minimal latex. Mangosteen, on the other hand, has become a darling of fruit growers because of its medicinal . . attributes that were discovered in recent years. It is also one fruit tree that has very few pests and diseases. As fresh fruit, it commands a very high price.

Larry has adopted another marketing strategy for his fruits. He has put up a restaurant in a busy district in Davao City which also serves as showcase for his fruits. Durian lovers go to his restaurant because he has a regular supply of the best varieties. In the final planning stage is the setting up of another restaurant in Makati City where his fruits will be served. It will be a joint venture with a Makati businessman.

The Makati restaurant could also serve as the drop point for shipments of fruits from Davao. By then, he could also help distribute in Metro Manila the harvests of other farmers in Davao. Larry would benefit and so would his fellow fruit producers in Mindanao.