Toward a more competitive and economic production, farmers from Victoria, Naujan, Pola, and Roxas of Oriental Mindoro will soon be introduced to off-season calamansi strategies. This is through the one-year project of DA-MIMAROPA with funding from DA-BAR in the second quarter of 2023.

Calamansi is widely grown in the province during the peak production period, July  to October. However, its buying price then, compared to the lean months (November to May), is lower. This prompted DA-MIMAROPA to package a research project that will utilize and scale off-season calamansi strategies in fertilization, irrigation and pruning for a  higher market price during lean season.

The technology, through improved crop management interventions, aims to enhance, promote, and sustain the production, availability, and quality of calamansi during off-season.

“Off-season technology will offer significant benefits such as increase in the availability of fresh calamansi, reduction in farm cost, fruit losses/market rejects, and improvement in the overall income of small-scale Calamansi farmers–taking advantage of higher market prices,” Dr. Jovilito D. Landicho, project leader, said.

Farmer-respondents from the aforementioned major calamansi-producing municipalities will undergo interviews to account the off-season practices of farmers in the province. Cross visits in other calamansi-producing regions (Region IX and III) will also be conducted. Enumerated off-season strategies will then be evaluated  to select top three strategies, which will then be validated in the field vis-a-vis farmer’s financial capabilities and technology preferences.

The research team will monitor planted bearing trees for two consecutive off-season periods. This is to ensure comprehensive observation on the response of calamansi trees on the identified crop management interventions. (### Ma. Eloisa H. Aquino )