Government boosts atis production in Lobo

MANILA, Philippines – Lobo, Batangas has over 500 hectares of farmland planted with sweet sugar apple trees. The tree’s fruit, popularly known as “atis,” is tended by over a thousand farmers. It’s no wonder why Lobo has been declared through Resolution  2011-61 as the “Atis Capital of the Philippines” in September 2011.

Despite this recognition, Lobo started out in a less progressive state in terms of its farming systems. According to Daisynette D. Manalo, project leader of the “Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) on Sugar Apple + Vegetables + Legume Farming System in Lobo, Batangas,” an Atis tree can potentially produce five kilograms of the fruit but the current average production in Lobo is only one kilogram per tree.

At P45 per kilogram, low income among atis farmers during harvest time has raised concerns for developing the municipality’s farming systems.

Manalo added that aside from natural disasters such as typhoons, one major cause for low production is the mealybug, small pest insects that feed on plant sap while leaving a sticky substance on the fruit and leaves.

The sticky substance makes room for fungi to develop, leaving the fruit surface with sooty mold. These sticky, white cotton ball like pests, infest a great number of Atis tress and can become uncontrollable during summer, when rainfall is scarce and irrigation is unsteady.

The CPAR project, implemented by the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 4A, Southern Tagalog Integrated Agricultural Research Center, is funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).

Prior to the implementation of the CPAR project, the Office of the Municipal Agriculture of Lobo conducted a Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRA) among Atis farmers with the general objective of improving their yield and income. It aimed to equip smallholders with efficient irrigation technology, new crops to plant, and create an organized association for Atis farmers.

It was during the PRA that farmers from Lobo pointed out that water would be a simple solution to the mealybug infestation.

The option of using chemical pesticides was not feasible due to the huge stretches of land and canopy that needed to be sprayed. What was needed is proper irrigation to give farmers access to enough water for spraying the pests off Atis trees.

Farmers in Lobo would need long stretches of water pipes that transport water from the municipality’s numerous water springs. With the CPAR project, 20 farmers from two barangays in Lobo were provided with new irrigation systems that included the construction of water reservoirs, and the procurement of water pumps, power sprayers, and plastic drums.

According to Rosie Egea, a municipal agriculturist in Lobo, in two weeks time, farmers have already noticed significant developments in the quality and quantity of their yield.

Ever since collecting water from the new irrigation system, Atis trees began yielding more fruit.

The trees that used to yield five kilos of Atis can now produce up to nine kilos of the fruit. At present, Atis farmers could have two harvest seasons.

Off-season harvest runs from May to July while the regular season is from August to October.

Part of the project also involved training farmers in intercropping legumes and vegetables with Atis. Manalo said planting different crops on the same farmland preserves the nutrients present in the soil and could lead to better quality for the harvested Atis.

Diversifying the number of crops planted on farmland has not only increased the income of the farmers in Lobo, but also helped in providing their families with enough supply of crops for personal use.

Aside from providing new methods in irrigation and intercropping, farmers were also trained in the proper methods of applying fertilizer, pruning, and weeding.

Manalo pointed out that farmers could finally agree to establish a hub where they could store their harvest and directly sell to market vendors.

This also cuts down on the necessary expenses needed for one to hire middle men and decreases the retail price per kilo of Atis in the market.

The CPAR project’s recipients are 20 farmers from two of Lobo’s less progressive barangays, Balatbat and Banaio.