Veterinarian earns extra from Longkong lanzones

CEBU, Philippines -  A veterinary quarantine officer based in Dumaguete City has invested on a Longkong lanzones farm to earn extra income from an industry unrelated to his specialization.

Dr. Al Tundag is an animal doctor on his professional time and a Longkong fruit farmer during his free time.

He started his lanzones farm in 2004 in his 1,500 square meter property in Valencia, Negros Oriental initially with 40 three-foot tall Longkong lanzones seedlings.

After 10 years, Dr. Tundag is now starting to reap the fruits of his investments.

The town of Valencia, which is less than an hour drive from Dumaguete City proper, can rival Camiguin Island in terms of lanzones production.

Lanzones or Lansium domesticum correa is now considered as a high-value commercial crop in the Philippines along with mango, banana, pineapple, and coconut, among other priority commodity crops.

The Lansium specie comes in different varieties such as Paete, Camiguin, Jolo, Duku and Longkong.

Longkong lanzones, the variety grown in Dr. Tundag’s farm is currently the most expensive variety of lanzones, which could cost around P350 to as high as P600 per kilo in the market. It originates from Thailand and Indonesia. It is seedless and sweeter than the native lanzones. Its distinct characteristic is that its peel has no latex compared to other varieties.

To date, an increasing number of fruit farmers are discovering the advantages of growing the Longkong variety instead of other fruit crops because it is easy to nurture and generates good returns.

At present, half of the trees that Dr. Tundag planted are now fruiting at an average of 20 kilos per tree. Longkong lanzones sells at P150 per kilo at the farm, which is deemed more expensive than the retail price of native lanzones that can be bought from fruit stands.

However, despite the steep price tag, still a growing number of customers would prefer buying Longkong lanzones and would in fact make advance reservations at Dr. Tundag’s farm prior to harvest time. The last quarter of the year is the fruiting season of lanzones in the Philippines.

To keep the trees healthy, Dr. Tundag ensures cleanliness in his farm by keeping the grasses, under the trees and the surroundings, trimmed every month.

He applies small amount of inorganic and organic fertilizer, which is a mixture of animal manure and other farm wastes that he personally mixed. He also uses commercial organic preparation, which he get from his friend Tristram Nacua, a certified organic fertilizer manufacturer.   

Moreover, he regularly checks on pests and diseases, but so far he has not experienced any because of good agricultural practices, such as regular pruning which he does after every harvest.   Regular scraping of branches infected with mites is also done as needed.

An additional 30 trees have been added to his plants when in 2007, his brother bought an adjacent lot and the management was entrusted to him.  Fifteen of these newly planted trees are double root stock he acquired from known orchard grower Bernie Dizon.  These trees are expected to attain maximum fruiting in two years’ time. (DARFO 7)  (FREEMAN)