The Department of Agriculture in Region 6 is eyeing the expansion of  plantations of dragon fruits in Western Visayas, particularly in Iloilo, to meet the growing demand in the markets due to its health benefits especially in cancer prevention.

There are now dragon fruit plantations in Guimaras and in the towns of San Miguel and Badiangan, all in Iloilo, owned by private planters.

DA-6 director Larry Nacionales said dragon fruit is already one of the commodities in the region.

Nacionales added that, despite its being capital intense, the dragon fruit has been introduced to several interested farmers.

The DA helped them develop a good variety for local consumption and even abroad.

“This is one of the best fruits in the country that we want to expand here. We are willing to give technical assistance to those farmers who are interested to invest in this,” he said.

Nacionales said the country’s largest dragon fruit plantation is in Ilocos Norte.

Magsasaka Siyentista Edita Dacuycuy who is hailed as the “dragon fruit lady of the north" after maintaining its Refmad Farm Dragon Fruit plantation in Brgy. Paayas, Burgos, Ilocos Norte with 15,000 fruit-bearing plants as her starting capital on her 10-hectare farm, said her daughter’s chronic constipation problem due to cerebral palsy led her to grow the plant.

With the technical and financial assistance and interventions of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Dacuycuy’s dragon fruit farm has turned into a multimillion-peso enterprise.*PNA

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