MY MANGO FARM IN SAN ROQUE DIGOS CITY

by: Felix B. Daray

San Roque is a remote barangay that ranges hilly, flat and slightly
rolling with silky loam soil. It has 438 hectares more or less or 1.53%
of the total area of Digos City.

The main source of livelihood is farming. The early settlers in 1940's
planted corn as their main staple food. In 1970, some farmers planted
sugar cane. Because of the rise and fall on the price of sugar, some
farmers shifted to mangoes production in 1982. Ten years after, mango
production started to boom because of the great demand for exports
and for local markets. The farmers got hefty profit that even tripled
compared to sugar production. With my neighboring farmers, I planted
my two hectare lot with grafted mangoes. Using the modern technology
of farming, I started inducing the plants to bear flowers at 8 years
old.

Mango fruit production became the main source of livelihood. Sugar
cane farms were intercropped with grafted mangoes. Years latter, more
and more farmers planted grafted mangoes. Based on my survey in 2005,
100% of the total land area of San Roque was fully planted with grafted
mangoes, the sweet and juicy variety, 'mango cebu'. 70% of the mango
fruits produced in Digos City came from San Roque.

Thus, San Roque is regarded the "mango country of Digos City