Feature: There’s money in calamansi farming

By Gideon C. Corgue

Thursday 2nd of August 2012

The neat rows of hundreds of calamansi trees in Zamboanga Peninsula do not require much attention. Just the usual watering and fertilizing the soil are enough and harvesting is done everyday, portion by portion of the vast plantation, said municipal agriculturist Elsa Bagaforo.

Known as the “Calamansi Capital” of Zamboanga Peninsula, the municipality of Siay has 634.4 hectares planted with calamansi by 261 small farmers, said.

Ronald and Rodina Espera of Barangay Batu, Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay, a young couple engaged in the business and are now earning a modest income to support their family and send their children to school, said they started their small family business by planting calamansi after they got married in 2001.

The wait was not too long for the hard-working couple. Soon they started harvesting calamansi from the three hectares of land that Ronald inherited from his parents. With an ideal climate and fertile soil, their labor indeed was not in vain. Later, they were able to acquire an additional two hectares that was leased to them.

The couple’s parents are also calamansi farmers and from their experience, such business provided them with sufficient income to buy the necessities of life and fund the schooling of their four children.

“Sa pagpananom sa lemonsito mitunhay ang among pamuyo, apan dili ako makaingon nga adunay kami dako nga abot. Igo lamang nga makapakaon sa akong mga anak ug pagpa-eskwela kanila (We survived pretty well, although I couldn’t categorically say that we earn a lot. It is just enough to feed my children and send them to school),” Ronald explained. He said it enabled them to live a decent life.

Thirty-three-year-old Ronald said they ventured in calamansi farming believing that there’s money in calamansi. “We planted grafted calamansi plants, and from there our business flourished naturally,” Ronald said in vernacular.

”Sa akong kasinatian, ang among gitanom nga punoan sa lemonsito mobunga sa 11,280 kilos. Moabot kini sa 376 ka sako kapin kun kulang matag harvest. Among gibaligya ang lemonsito sa Motherland, usa ka processing plant sa dakbayan sa Cagayan de Oro sa tag-P372 ang matag sako (The calamansi trees yield a harvest of 11,280 kilos and that amounts to 376 bags. We ship and sell the calamansi at Motherland, a processing plant in Cagayan de Oro City at P372 per bag)," Ronald said.

Ronald explained that they ventured in calamansi farming because unlike other crops or fruit trees, it doesn’t really need much caring. “Gawas sa naandan nga pagbubo ug tubig ug pagbutang ug abuno, pagbisbis ug pestisidyo kausa lamang, ug biyaan na lamang kini (Aside from the usual watering and fertilizing, we spray it with pesticide only once but other than that, we just leave it there),” he disclosed.

He did not spend so much for production cost because it is almost purely a family business, with his nephews and nieces helping them out. He hires four male young workers for the labor.

”Gawas nga among gibayran ang mga trabahante, duha niini ang among gigastuhan sa pag-ekwela aron makapadayon sa ilang pagtungha sa kolehiyo ug makatapos sa kurso (Aside from paying the hired laborers, we send two of them to school and earn a college degree),” Ronald said.

Indeed, there is money in calamansi farming, and success is not so hard to achieve if we persevere to reach goals through hard work and determination. (ALT/GCC/PIA9-Zambosur)