DAVAO FARMER SHOWS APPLES CAN BE GROWN IN THE PHILIPPINES

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

ground. Unfortunately, only one plant survived.

In early 2018, he observed flowers coming out from the tree. Three weeks later, he became excited when he saw the flowers turned into fruit buds. From the lone tree, he was able to harvest 32 ripe apples.

He admitted that his interest in planting apples was actually fired up when he visited South Korea for a two-month educational trip on farming. In one of the trips, he read an agricultural magazine where farmers are growing tropical fruits, despite the cold climate. With the right technique and technology, Korean farmers grow mangoes successfully.

“If they were able to grow our fruits, why not grow their fruits in our country,” Sepe thought.

Then, he remembered the apple he planted in the backyard way back home. “Why not produce apples in the Philippines?” he told himself.

“That started my eagerness to propagate apples. I also did some research through the internet and read articles about propagating apples,” he pointed out.

In one of his readings, he found out that apples require 7 to 12 degrees of cold weather, called dormancy. The apple tree needs at least 800 hours of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit in order to produce fruit.

“But since apples are a highly adaptive crop, I think they have adjusted to the cold weather of Kapatagan,” Sepe said. “Besides, in some parts of Africa, particularly Kenya, they are already producing apples and even exporting the fruits.”

In the highlands of Benguet, apples were also planted but the result is not as good as those in Kapatagan.

From one apple tree, the Kapatagan Apple Orchard – as it is now known – has about 330 trees. “I started planting apples in our home lot with an area of 640 square meters,” he said.

At least 30 apple trees are growing now in the homeyard. The 300 others are planted in front of their church and in a half-hectare land which he rents. He dreams of planting more as his contribution in reforesting Kapatagan, which is now denuded due to banana plantation and vegetable production. Sepe raises most of his apple plants from seeds, which he marcotted, bud-grafted and grafted. When planted, seedlings grafted with a branch from a full-grown tree start bearing fruits in two to three years.

“If you are interested in growing apples from seeds, you have to plant as many as you can,” he stressed, adding that apple seeds have a very low germination rate aside from being attacked by fungus.

An apple grown from seeds is considered a new variety, according to him. That’s why he called the variety he grows as “Benzone Apple,” after his own name. He said he keeps on planting apples from seeds because of the unpredictable fruits they produce.

Aside from Fuji, he also plants other varieties of apples: Golden Dorsett, Starking, Granny Smith, Gala, Redlove Odysso, and Russet to name a few.

In the meantime, the apples he harvests from his farm are only for family consumption. “I am looking forward to producing apples that we can supply in the local market and the entire Philippines,” he said.

Last year, Sepe became the first recipient of The Outstanding Young Farmer during the Young Agri-Laureate Awards (YALA) for his exceptional contribution to the field of agricultural production. He was cited as “the first young Filipino farmer who has produced apples in the Philippines.”

“Your journey and work have the potential to motivate a lot of Filipino youth,” the YALA organizers explained. “We are grateful for your inspiring work, and for leading the charge in contributing to change the narrative of agriculture for the better.”

CASH... FROM 2 DAVAO... FROM 9 PADILLA... FROM 2 CHEVRON...

gram for struggling workers.

TUPAD is a community–based package of assistance that offers emergency service for displaced, underemployed, and seasonal workers for at least 10 days, but not more than 30 days, depending on the nature of their work.

Most workers, primarily displaced and disadvantaged, unemployed, and senior citizens, from the informal sector will work on tree planting, community gardening, reforestation, road cleaning, drainage/canal de-clogging, community clean-up, and refurbishment of tourist attractions.

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priated in 2023 a total of Php508,729,927.00 fresh SBDP funds for 77 cleared barangays which will be receiving each a funding of Php6,606,882.17 to put on ground their respective priority projects.

Davao City has one recipient barangay; Davao Occidental, 10; Davao del Sur, three; Davao del Norte, four; Davao Oriental, 15; and Davao de Oro, 44.

Per National Task Force on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (NT-ELCAC) memorandum dated December 22, 2022, the fund allocation per barangay is intended for priority projects particularly farm-to-market roads, school buildings, water sanitation systems, health stations and electrification projects. (PIA XI, Jeane Duron Abangan)

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experience in running 20 major companies in various industries. Its core business interests are in energy and power generation, property development and product distribution. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

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added.

For the housing market, the median home price growth expectations increased by 0.3 percentage points to 1.4 percent in February, but still remaining far below the 12-month trailing average of 3.4 percent.

As the US Federal Reserve continues its policy of monetary tightening, its officials last week signaled more rate hikes to come at least for the first half of this year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last Tuesday that if incoming macroeconomic data would indicate faster monetary tightening is needed, the US central bank would be prepared to increase the pace of interest rate hikes.

Consumer inflation in the US came in at 6.4 percent in January, recording the smallest 12-month increase since October 2021, while it marked a sharp decline from the 9.1 percent yearly gain in June.

The data for February will be released Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

However, the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, rose 4.7 percent annually in January, up from a 4.6 percent year-on-year gain in December.

On a monthly basis, the core PCE price index rose 0.6 percent in January, up from a 0.4 percent monthly gain in December. (Anadolu) nagmano ako kay Presidente, para mong sinasabi sa ilalim kami ng executive,” Padilla said.

Padilla is set to fly to Cebu this week to hold another hearing on Cha-cha.

The lower House is set to pass on final reading this week the implementing bill that called for a Constitutional convention to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

In the Senate, proposals for Charter change remain at the committee level led by Padilla.

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parents and the residents.

“Sa school okay na yan pero sa community bihira lang mag “duck, cover and hold” specially na naunahan tayo sa social media,” she said.

Mazo also said that what is read on social media, specifically unverified information, has added to the fear and panic among the public during earthquakes.

“Ang daming bright sa socmed like inland ang linog pero naay tsunami daw,” she said.

On March 9, 2023, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. enjoined the entire nation in the face-toface conduct of the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED).

The simultaneous drill comes after the announcement from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) through the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), asking the public to join the first quarter NSED.

The quarterly conduct of the nationwide earthquake drills each year is an effort of the government to promote disaster preparedness and resilience among Filipinos.

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Japan was the biggest export partner of the country in the year, accounting to $866.25 million or 16.6% of the total exports during the month, followed by USA with $738.26 million, China with $666.99 million, Hong Kong with $530.16 million, and Singapore with $318.47 million.

Imports for the month were $10.970 billion, up from $10.302 billion in December and 3.9% higher than the $10.559 billion in January 2022.

The biggest jump was seen in the imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap up 333.5%, followed by mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials up 70.6%; telecommunication equipment up 15.2%; other food and live animals up 6.4%; transport equipment up 3.7%; industrial machinery up 3.4%; and miscellaneous manufactured articles up 2.2%.

Declines were seen in cereals and cereal preparations which slipped by 18.4%, electronic products by 12.9%, and iron and steel by 7.7%.

China remained as the biggest supplier of imported goods, accounting for $2.32 billion or 21.1% of the total for the month.

It was followed by Indonesia with $1.16 billion or 10.6%, Japan with $958.70 million or 8.7%, South Korea with $866.19 million or 7.9%, and the USA with $696.99 million or 6.4%.

The latest figures brought the total external trade for the month to $16.201 billion, slightly higher than the $16.101 billion in December but 2.4% lower than the $16.604 billion in January 2022.

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turnout and the general mood of the run. We are, after all, doing this for students and youth in need, so we are beyond grateful to all who participated. Currently, we have 50 scholars studying vocational technology at Don Bosco Makati. All the proceeds from our fundraising events, including the ScholaRUN - Eat & Run, go to our scholarship programs. So as always, we appreciate our sponsors, partners and participants who made this event possible,” said Edwin Feist, President of ACFPI.

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