By Suzanne June G. Perante
AFTER barely a decade of thorough research in the mid-1980s, the late Leonardo Perante of Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya—my paternal grandfather—finally produced the dream orange tree named after him: The Perante Orange.
A cross between the Hamlim orange variety of Florida and the prolific Bearss Lime, the orange variety inherited the sweetness of the Hamlim and the prolificacy of Bearss Lime. Many believe that Perante Orange is the sweetest of all Philippine-grown orange varieties. The trees are prolific, bearing five to 12 fruits per cluster.
The government committee on citrus, then-headed by Conrado Gonzales of the Department of Agriculture, officially named the orange variety after Perante.
Many enterprising farmers saw the potential of engaging in large-scale production of the locally bred orange strain. Most of them were farmers from the towns of Kasibu, Solano, Bagabag and Aritao, and some from the provinces of Isabela, Cagayan, Palawan and North Cotabato. These provoked my equally enterprising granddad to propagate in commercial scale budded seedlings of his orange creation.
My Lolo Nardo’s tiny experimental orchard virtually became a hands-on seminar-workshop area for farmers, including the group of today’s successful citrus farmers Alfonso Namuhje and Alberto Bernardo Jr., who eventually established their respective citrus orchards in the upland town of Kasibu. The two, who spearheaded upland citrus farming, would later introduce early-maturing and hand-peeled Mandarin-type citrus varieties, like ponkan and satsuma.
Sweet Chinese pomelo strains added value to the industry. Others added Bearss Lime and citron as elite cocktail varieties. Even painter-artist James Magalued from Solano town followed suit; he transformed his family resort into a citrus orchard.
Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla wants Perante Orange to be institutionalized as a provincial fruit icon to credit my grandfather’s feat. Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Ruth Padilla would also like the popular planting of the sweet orange even at backyards to be revived. The lady governor has recently launched Farm Tourism in citrus farms in the province.
The normal productive life span of the Perante Orange trees is 15 years. Unfortunately, when my Lolo Nardo passed away in May 1988, his further studies discontinued with him. However, the sweetest legacy he left behind for our generation was an orange variety that gave birth to a citrus industry in the region and tagged Nueva Vizcaya as “Citrus Capital of the Philippines.”
Fruit tree enthusiast and a family friend Bernie Dizon maintains stocks of budded Perante Orange in plastic pots available in his plant shop at the Parks and Wildlife Center in Diliman, Quezon City and in his nursery stall at the Central Luzon State University in Muñoz City, Nueva Ecija. The budded rootstocks may start bearing fruits in two years.
“To provide easy access and delivery of farm products, including citrus crops, we constructed a word-class circumferential concrete road connecting the eastern upland towns of Nueva Vizcaya to commercial and trade centers of the province and the rest of the country,” Padilla said.
As part of its agricultural support program that advocates “mining and agriculture can coexist” that focuses on the citrus industry surrounding its gold-copper project in Didipio, Kasibu town, OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGPI) consistently provides assistance to citrus growers in the upland town in terms of technology, road-network maintenance and marketing.
“It is precisely these reasons that we extend support to our citrus farmers in town on how to keep their trees healthy and productive by conducting seminars on how to address the prevalence of citrus diseases. At the end, we are the direct beneficiaries of the fruit industry, since more than 2,000 mining employees are substantial consumers. Besides, fresh homegrown citrus fruits taste much better than the imported ones,” said Chito Gozar, OGPI senior vice president for communications and external affairs.
• Perante Oranges performs best in places with alluvial soil or fertile top soil. In rocky areas, make big planting holes and fill this up with alluvial, sandy loam or clay loam soil or top soil; never put in hard-pan soil.
• Planting distance varies, depending on the soil type. It should be 6 by 6 meters to 7 by 7 meters for clay loam, sandy loam and other soft fertile soils and 5 or 5 by 6 meters for rocky shallow hard-pan soils. In areas with soft fertile soils, dig 1-foot-deep planting holes about the size of a 5-gallon can. However, in areas with stony or rocky hard-pan soils, dig 1-cubic-meter holes. Remove the seedling from their plastic containers, then set the seedlings in every hole, making sure that three-fourths of its base, the portion previously covered by plastic, is buried in the soil. If the soil is dry, water the plants immediately after transplanting.
• Apply fertilizer at least twice a month at the rate of 50 grams per tree in the first year, and 100 to 200 grams every two months in the second. In the third year, which is the flowering age, apply fertilizer with higher phosphorous level, like 10-40-15, before flowering time. Phosphorous induces flowering. After fruit setting or when the fruits are about the size of a 5-centavo coin, apply 14-14-14 or 20-20-20.
The roots of a 5-year-old tree spread out, covering the areas 6 meters in the diameter wider than the crown, so fertilizer should be applied in the ring at least a foot away from the drift. Prune the roots. To do this, dig a canal 1 foot wide, 1 foot deep and 3 meters away from the base of its tree-cutting portions of the roots that get in the way.
• Remove the dug soil and cut roots from the canal, and replace this with sandy loam or top soil. Do this after harvest in the fourth year. This ensures that when the trees are fertilized, the new root hairs that develop would have immediate access to the fertilized area. The trees will grow more lushly and be prepared for heavy fruiting starting the fifth year. Four to five months from flowering, fertilize the trees again. Apply more potash to ensure production of quality fruits with better rind and more juice.
• Remove the weeds around the trees, then dig up the soil in the roothair area to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Deeper cultivation may destroy the roothairs and abort fruit development.
• A serious disease of orange trees is powdery mildew. To prevent disease outbreak, apply copper fungicide once a month during the rainy season and once every two months in summer. The most dangerous pest is the leaf miner, which deposits rust on the trees’ foliage. Another pest is the citrus dog that eats young leaves. These pests may be controlled by a systemic insecticide. However, during fruiting, avoid using systemic insecticide; use contact poison.
• Regularly water the trees during dry months, especially at fruit-setting time. Before flowering, don’t water the trees, otherwise new water sprouts will merge, instead of flowers. If you want faster flowering, let the trees dry up a little to allow the flowers to come out. If you want small plants in pots to flower, follow the same procedure. When the fruits have already set, water the trees regularly to promote fruit development. Apply just enough water to wet the soil.
• Mulching is not recommended. Because when the materials decay, the root hairs come up to the decayed portion. Also, molds develop on the mulch material and infect the root hairs. Root hairs lie only 1/2 inch below the soil surface and are sensitive. Any decayed material on the ground will induce the root hairs to surface. Don’t cultivate the trees during flowering time because this can destroy the root hairs. If the root hairs are cut during cultivation, the flowers will fall off due to luck of nutrients. Uprooting the weeds is enough cultivation for citrus.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II
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