A SEPTUAGENARIAN farmer in Sorsogon who has been growing pili for over 20 years, won the top award during The Outstanding Farmers of the Philippines (Tofarm) 2014 Awards held at the Shangri-La Manila on January 30.
Jose E. Amador,72, who pioneered grafted pili farming in the country in 1987 and a Magsasakang Siyentista, was chosen Tofarm 2014 Farmer of the Year for his innovative, organic, sustainable and integrated agriculture.
Before pili production, Amador planted 4.5 hectares of their land in Barangay Guinlajon, Sorsogon City, in the 1980s with calamansi trees from the earning he brought home as a public-utility jeepney driver.
The lemons generated a fortune that expanded their land to 12 hectares in the 1980s, after purchasing an adjacent tract. A few old lemon trees are still there, bearing some fruits only good for home consumption.
The calamansi trees can earn good cash from age three to 10, after which fruit production begins to decline, he said. When that happens, replanting is required.
He was reluctant to substitute pili trees for his lemons at the start, Amador said. The problem he saw in pili trees was their height. They can grow tall, which can pose a difficulty in harvesting the fruits.
He was wondering if he could graft pili. He asked an agriculturist in the early 1980s. But there were no grafted pili at the time. His inquiry must have given the concerned government agency the idea and a challenge that after two years, he was told grafted pili planting materials were already available.
His concern for height was addressed. So he purchased 300 grafted pili seedlings and planted them.
After three years, his pili trees began bearing fruits, Amador said. At the age of five, the grafted pili produced more.
In 2006 the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (Opag), through Esteven D. Garcia and Debbie Ferwelo of the Opag, helped Amador plant two more hectares with grafted pili.
Currently, he has about 800 fully grown pili trees, all bearing fruits throughout the year.
“I am happy for growing pili,” he said. “It is the ideal crop for the climate in Sorsogon and for my age.”
The pili tree is the ideal crop for Sorsogon, said Garcia, who is an agriculturist. The province has a year-round rainfall, perfect for growing the trees bearing fruits.
Since 1987, the year Amador planted grafted pili, not a single pest struck the farm, Garcia said. The trees are also resilient to typhoon.
Sorsogon experiences a number of typhoons in a year, the agriculturist noted. But it does not seriously affect the trees and fruits. After stroked by strong winds, the trees grow flowers again.
“Pili is a centennial plant,” Amador said. “It can live and bear fruits for over 100 years.”
The pili tree can grow in the wilds without care from human, Garcia said. The resin its branches releases, as well as leaves kills the weeds.
“Pili is a crop like no other,” Amador said. “The farmer has no headache. The trees just stay there, bearing fruits for generations.”
Amador sells de-pulped pili at P40 to pili-nut processors in Bicol. His 800 trees can produce 300 to 500 kilos of de-pulped pili in a month.
He educated their two children in college with the earnings they made from pili.
Hosted by the Junior Chamber International and sponsored by the Universal Harvester Inc. (UHI), Tofarm 2014 awarded 55 other farmers.
“Through Tofarm, we want to show our farmers that support for them is always present, and that their efforts will always be recognized and put to good use,” said Dr. Milagros Ong How, UHI EVP.
Tofarm is “committed to help educate, uplift, recognize and inspire Filipino farmers,” How said.
Image credits: Oliver Samson