TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – Instead of losing hope and being distressed over the destruction of his Science and Technology-based Farm (STBF) on off-season tomato, Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Reynaldo Hilario saw a window of opportunity open. He shifted to cucumber production.
Floods heavily damaged MS Hilario’s third tomato crop production cycle last year. Coming from a two-week training on vegetable production at the Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Israel this year, the MS decided to plant cucumber instead. This way, he could still make use of his remaining tomato trellises.
The provincial government fully supported his new venture, with the Provincial Agriculture Office of Nueva Ecija providing him two green houses which he now uses for cucumber and onion seedling production.
During a recent STBF field day, Hilario showcased his 3,000-square meter cucumber production area and his tomato trellis, which he recycled for growing cucumber.
From this small area, Hilario earned a net income of P191,255 after a two-month growing period that he financed at a production cost of P16,245 only. By extrapolation, this translates to a net income of over half a million pesos per hectare.
Hilario achieved this with the application of the following interventions introduced by the STBF project: use of ambassador F1 variety, employment of zero tillage and seedling tray method, and application of fertilizer.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L), also known as pipino, is grown for its immature fruits, which are used in salads (slicing type) or are soaked in brine for pickles.
According to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (2005), cucumber is grown in 1,587 ha of farms in the country and 140 ha of these are found in Region 3.
MS Hilario’s STBF farm is the latest addition in the region, successful at that.