Idle land yields 20-kg watermelons

WHAT used to be an idle piece of

land near the picnic ground at the

Clark Special Economic Zone in

Pampanga now produces about 60

tons of 12 to 20-kilogram Taiwanese watermelons per week.

On Nov. 27, Clark Agritech Inc., a conglomerate of Filipino and

Taiwanese businessmen, made its first harvest of huge

watermelons of the Taiwanese variety. Guests were offered a

free taste of the sweet fruit and a spectacular view of the

40-hectare farm.

Clark International Airport Corp. used to spend P200,000 each

year to trim the grass and prevent the growth of cogon in the

area.

Dennis Anthony Uy, Clark Agritech chair, told the INQUIRER

that the huge watermelons can be harvested two months after

planting.

Most of their harvests, he said, would be exported to Taiwan,

Japan and Hong Kong, while the oversized and undersized

watermelons would be sold locally.

''The rejects will not be exported. These are the oversized and

undersized ones that will be sold here. The export-quality

harvests will be shipped through container vans and will arrive

four to five days in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan,'' he said.

Uy said his company expected to export $1 million worth of

watermelons in a year. Harvests will be done three times a week

throughout the year.

''Hindi sabay-sabay ang pagtanim namin kaya habang

hina-harvest namin ang isang area, lumalaki naman ang sa

ibang area. Kaya year-round ang pag-harvest namin (Planting

activities are not done all at once so that when we harvest in

one area, the plants are growing in other areas. That's why

harvesting is year-round),'' he said.

Clark Agritech employs about 70 farm workers belonging to

three cooperatives in Pampanga. It also employs two Taiwanese

agricultural technicians who supervise the planting and

harvesting.

The workers are members of the United Farmers Cooperative,

the KKK Cooperative and the Sipag at Tiyaga Multi-Purpose

Cooperative. They also get half of the oversized and undersized

watermelons which they can sell outside the special economic

zone.

''Aside from that sharing, binibigyan din namin ang mga

cooperative ng additional income tulad ng pag-dagdag ng 10

percent sa suweldo ng mga members nila at sa fertilizer (We

also give additional income to the cooperatives like 10-percent

salary increase for their members and fertilizer),'' Uy explained.

''Kung P140 ang daily wage ng mga farm workers,

dinadagdagan namin ng 10 percent na pumupunta sa pondo

ng mga cooperatives. (If the farm workers receive P140 daily

wage, we put in 10 percent for the cooperatives' funds). Pati sa

fertilizer, dumadagdag din kami ng 10 percent sa actual price ng

fertilizer para sa mga cooperatives.''

The CIAC, on the other hand, receives 1 percent of Clark

Agritech's gross export earnings.

Uy, an Angeles City businessman, said his firm invested P20

million for the farm in Clark and expected a return of investment

in only a year.

He became the center of attention in the business circle of

Angeles when, a few months after the eruption of Pinatubo in

1991, he and his brothers established a cable television network

and other businesses in the city, then considered as a ghost

town because of the devastation.

They invested millions of pesos at a time when scientists and

economists had predicted that it would take 10 to 20 years for

the city to get back on its feet. It was the time when many

Angeles businessmen abandoned the city, then covered with

thick volcanic ash and sand.

Ramon Abalayan, Clark Agritech vice president, said they also

set aside two hectares of land as pilot area for growing

Taiwanese varieties of tomato, cucumber, eggplant, squash,

passion fruit, string beans and cadyos legumes.