Co-ops Make Money from Ordinary Fruits

October 27, 2010, 7:52pm

Five farmers’ cooperatives in Rosario, Batangas, have literally found a gold mine in three ordinary fruits – Indian mango, atis and guava – after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and one of the province’s state universities taught them how to make wine from the said fruits.

DAR Secretary Gil de los Reyes said the five cooperatives benefiting from the wine-making project, courtesy of the DAR and the Batangas State University (BatStateU), are Pinagsibaan Farmers Development Cooperative (Pifadeco), San Isidro/Nasi Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Haybanga, Big A and Seaside B.

De los Reyes said the project, dubbed as “Boost our Fruits: Development of Fruit Processing Enterprises in Batangas,” is one of DAR’s major thrusts in its beneficiaries’ development program aimed at boosting farmers’ income, and reducing their dependence on traders who are buying their harvests at very low prices.

“Developing the entrepreneurial skills of our farmer beneficiaries is what we in the DAR have been pushing to help them attain economic stability.

We have to re-skill them rather than retool them. For in re-skill, you empower the person. Besides, the skills remain with the person while the tools disappear,” he said.

DAR Southern Tagalog-A director Antonio Evangelista said he expects a big economic turnaround in the province as demand for Indian mango, guava and atis would become higher, following the establishment of a wine processing center in Barangay Pinagsibaan which is being run by Pifadeco, whose members are mostly agrarian reform beneficiaries.

From here on, Batangas will no longer be known only for its barako cofee, tawilis fish and fan knife (balisong), but it will also become the home of wines out of Indian mango, atis and guava as well as for atis juice, Indian mango and tamarind candies, and tamarind jam, Evangelista said.

BatStateU president Vilma L. Magnaye echoed the same sentiment, saying that the project would not only increase the economic value of the said fruits and help farmers establish their own promising business enterprises, but it would also avoid wastage that was evident in the past, especially during peak harvest season.

She recalled the days when Indian mangoes, guavas and tamarind were largely ignored during peak season and were left to rot in the backyards as the cost of bringing them to the market was much greater than the income expected to be derived from them.

“With this project, we are hopeful that these three fruits would no longer be ignored and left to rot in the backyards,” Magnaye said.

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