Just today we met representatives of Ramgo Seeds Corporation, namely Ramsey Fernando and Alfred June Dadal, both coming from my hometown Dingle. They presented their line of vegetable seeds to technical people of the High Value Crops Section of the Crops Division of the Iloilo Provincial Office. These two Ramgo technical men were discussing the merits of their varied lines of vegetable seeds to Mrs. Sherlita Duero and Mr. Leonardo Geraldino.
I got interested in their cauliflower hybrid since their brochure stated that the farmer can earn in as little as 67 days from seed planting. Albarich 45 is the particular cauliflower hybrid I am interested in. It is claimed that its yield potential is over 20 metric tons per hectare and that it is ideal for rainy or wet seasons in the lowlands. If this is so, then lowland farmers who have small dry-land areas can have a sideline short term crop.
The farmer needs an investment of about P200,000.00 per hectare. But the returns are high- at P45.00 per kilogram ex-farm and an average yield of 20,000 kilograms of curds (the term used for the edible portion of cauliflowers), a farmer would be able to gross P900.000.00 per hectare. Of course, he would find some marketing problems if he grows that much since the local market can probably absorb only a fraction of that volume. A prudent or wise farmer however would grow just a fraction of a hectare to earn extra while he waits for his main crops. And even if the farm gate price would drop to )35.00 per kilogram, still the farmer would have a sizable income if he plants this crop commercially.
For small scale farmers tilling 1,000 square meters of vegetables, especially those practicing integration, cauliflower farming can be profitable, much more so if he adopts organic methods. Ramsey and Alfred say that an intensively farmed 1,000 sq. meters would be able to achieve the average yield recorded for Albarich 45 and with the right marketing program, the 2,000 kilograms or so of the curds can be sold easily and would gross about P90,000.00 from an investment of P20,000 to P30,000.00. Thus the least net income for the farmer in less than three months would be about P50,000 to P60,000.
However, like all crucifers, cauliflower and broccoli are susceptible to plant pests and diseases. Like its cousins, cabbages, pechay, and kale, they are attacked by leaf eating worms and beetles that they need to be continuously sprayed with pesticides. While there are now pesticides with low mammalian toxicity, still these poisons have residual effects on humans.
So if one were to engage in cauliflower farming, one needs to plan well: from production to marketing. Production-wise the farmer should plan his farm lay-out his cropping pattern and calendar and his over-all technology so that he would minimize the use of pesticides and fungicides. He should also invest in new technology such as the use of plastic mulch so that he can lower his cost of labor mainly on weeding and other labor intensive activities.
By using integration technologies, a cauliflower farm can also minimize pests as well as earn from companion crops such as lemon grass and balunggay, which are favorites of Ilonggos. Shallots or leaf onions can also be planted on the sides of the plots.
Yes sub-temperate crops are also good income streams for farmers especially the small ones but the initial capital needed may become a big limiting factor. The farmer needs only to weigh the advantages and disadvantages to firm up his decision. (To be continued).
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