Normally, mango trees will bear fruit only once a year. But one fellow who grows mangoes in Libungan, North Cotabato, can make two harvests from the same mango trees twice a year. And both harvests are considered off-season so he gets a very good price for his two crops
The fellow is Francisco “Frank” Sacdalan, a retired accountant whose passion these days is farming, particularly mango production. He operates four mango farms with a total area of more than 40 hectares, two of which he owns while two others are leased. Many of the trees are 16 to 20 years old but there are 63 trees that are at least 50 years old. These old trees are really big and very productive because they are adequately fertilized and judiciously pruned.
At the recent National Mango Congress in Tagbilaran City, he detailed how he produced two off-season mango crops in 2007 from the same trees. He revealed that although he had owned the two farms for many years, it was only starting four years ago that he took over the management of the trees. In previous years, a contractor took charge of production under a sharing scheme of the harvests.