Bright Prospect! Garlic Next Big Industry In Mindanao Agriculture

In less than 4 months since a group of Garlic farmers from San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte came to North Cotabato to share their technology in growing this highly imported commodity, there are now clear indicators that Garlic Farming could be the next big thing for Mindanao Agriculture.
In the three trial farms established in the towns of Alamada, Makilala and the City of Kidapawan with the help and support of a private company, Vetmate Farma Corp., it has been proven that Garlic grows in the area.
In Alamada, the first plot of Garlic planted produced cloves which were not of the ideal size but with a little more improvement in the planting and fertilization protocols, the size of the cloves could be improved.
In Makilala, the Garlic cloves planted in the first plots did not perform as expected mainly because the area was drenched by heavy rains right after planting.
Learning lessons from the first two trial farms, I established another experimental area in Paco, Kidapawan City.
To address the small clove sizes, I made sufficient soil preparation by adding a lot of organic materials like dehydrated chicken manure, Guano and Vermicast mixed with the recommended inorganic fertilizer, 14-14-14.
We established elevated plots to ensure that the Garlic cloves willl not be affected by waterlogging.
Today, the first three plots in my farm would be 18 days old while two others were planted a week later.
The photos attached to this article were taken on the 15th and 17th day since we planted the Garlic cloves.
A keen eyed farmer would be able to determine that based on the photos, the young Garlics are healthy and robust, indicators that we are doing things better now.
Now that we had established that Garlic could be grown in Mindanao, we only need to learn more on how to improve the health, vigor and production of the plants.
When we have perfected the protocols based on Mindanao’s climate and soil, Garlic could become a major agricultural industry in the country’s second biggest island.
Soon, we may be less dependent on importation for our Garlic requirements.
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