High Income In Bananas

Mr. Ricardo Palmares earns P240,000 per hectare a year from his lakatan banana farm in Passi City. This is gross income at farmgate price of P20 per kilogram. My 18 hectares now planted to bananas used to be planted with sugarcane.

"I tested three distances in planting bananas", revealed Palmares. He planted at a distance of 4 m. x 4m., 2.5 m. x 2.5 m. and 2 m. x 2 m." My distances are all productive provided exist suckers are removed every harvest," said Palmares who just harvested three hectares of lakatan bananas. It yielded him 36 metric tons and sold at P720,000 gross, farm gate price of P20 per kilogram.

However, my work in the farm is sincerely done, loaded with dedication and passion," he pointed out. He fertilizes 20 bags commercial fertilizer per hectare annually. He constructed drainage canals around his banana plantation and in between the rows of the plants. His plantation is also well protected with wind breaks, both natural and man made to minimize the effects of strong winds.

"My big problem is plant disease, Bunchy top of banana. This forces me to use more farm chemicals: Malathion," stressed Palmares. "Once symptoms of Bunchy top appear, the plants affected are removed immediately including roots and burn it to prevent its spread", he stressed.

Billboard

Almost at the middle side of the Kalibo bridge, right side if one comes from Kalibo stands a billboard. Printed on it is the picture of Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wearing an engineering construction helmet.

Over her head reads "A Project of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo". The project said, retrofitting of Kalibo bridge. I checked this billboard after a naughty young man asked if "it is true Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo owns that project. If yes, is she financing the said project?"

I responded, I really do not know if she owns that project and if is spending for its retrofitting. Does she own it? Is our taxes being paid for its retrofitting? Moreover, I checked the meaning of "retrofitting" in the dictionary. As I found it, retrofitting means "change in design, construction in order to incorporate later improvements, to modify or to improve.

But what is change in Kalibo bridge? Do you notice any change? Yes, the banks are eroded that might erase barangays in Numancia and Kalibo.

Dogs

Travelling along the Altavas-Kalibo road, there are multitude of dogs on the middle. This is one of the causes of vehicular accidents. This dogs must be confined in the houses of its respective masters. /MP