Aired (February 15, 2025): Sino ang mag-aakalang puwede palang tumubo ang apple trees sa Davao del Sur? Ang isang 33-anyos na farmer sa Digos City, nakapagpatubo ng mahigit 500 puno ng mansanas! Paano niya ito nagawa? Panoorin sa video.
Hosted by Vicky Morales, ‘Good News’ is a weekly newscast that rounds up the trending feel-good stories in the Philippines and offers D-I-Y fashion tips and affordable healthy recipes for Kapuso viewers on a budget. #GoodNews
Hosted by Vicky Morales, ‘Good News’ is a weekly newscast that rounds up the trending feel-good stories in the Philippines and offers D-I-Y fashion tips and affordable healthy recipes for Kapuso viewers on a budget. #GoodNews
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FunTranscript
00:00Do you also like mansanas?
00:04You don't need to go abroad to harvest mansanas.
00:10You can already harvest this fruit from your backyard.
00:15This is our proudly grown apple from Kapatagan.
00:20Mansanas usually grow in cold climates.
00:27That's why most of the mansanas we buy here in the Philippines
00:31are imported from America and China.
00:34But can you believe that in Digos City, Davao del Sur,
00:38more than 500 apple trees have already grown?
00:47That's the good news brought by Benzon, a 33-year-old farmer.
00:54And that's not all.
00:55Apples are also the answer to their lives.
00:59They're slowly becoming sweeter.
01:01So, are you ready to plant mansanas?
01:09Benzon is a man of his word.
01:11He's really good at farming.
01:13My parents are both farmers.
01:15We were also raised here.
01:17We were exposed to farming since we were kids.
01:21But they don't consider themselves to be the owners of the land.
01:25In Bisaya, people rely on the land to farm.
01:31Benzon used to say that mansanas are only for the rich.
01:36He said that he only eats mansanas when he's ready.
01:39Since we were kids, when there's an apple in December,
01:42we feel like we're rich.
01:43But they're very grateful to their parents
01:46for planting mansanas.
01:49They received a good education.
01:52That's why after becoming an IT graduate and a sales associate in a mall,
01:57This is what I call Benzon Apple Farm.
02:02He also pushed his passion to return to farming.
02:06He got a double degree and took an agriculture course.
02:09These are your apples.
02:12You can plant them directly.
02:15But how did Benzon get into apple farming?
02:19Once upon a time in 2013,
02:22I extracted 3 seeds from a fuji fruit while I was eating apples.
02:28I planted it in a seashell.
02:31Two of them died.
02:33One survived.
02:34He's really interested in experimenting with seeds.
02:38But because he believed that it can only be planted abroad,
02:42he has a lot of doubts if it can bear fruit.
02:45No one believes that apples can bear fruit here in the Philippines.
02:51One of the struggles is the negativity that you receive.
02:54But Benzon is not just a place of hope.
02:57He persevered and took care of it.
03:00It was the first time I saw a flower.
03:03I was very happy with the feeling.
03:05And who would have thought that after 5 years,
03:08he planted apples seeds?
03:10It bear fruit!
03:12Until I saw fruits, I ate them.
03:15These are the first apples planted in our backyard.
03:20This was planted 10 years ago.
03:23After growing his first ever apple tree,
03:27he tried the process of grafting,
03:30which he will share with Good News.
03:32This is the seed grown apple that I made a rootstock.
03:37What we will do is to cut it.
03:40After that, we will crush the branch from the matured apple tree.
03:46We will insert this scion wood.
03:51And then we will wrap it with grafting tape.
03:54And make sure that the tape is really tight.
04:00Because of this, the usual 5 years of waiting
04:03only lasted 2 to 3 years for the apple to bear fruit.
04:09The fruits here started to grow.
04:12When April came, it was already the season for it.
04:15In terms of taste, nothing really changed.
04:18We also tested the sugar level of the apples.
04:21We compared it to the imported apples.
04:24Our apples are sweeter here due to sunlight exposure.
04:29Now, Benzone's apple tree is 500 years old.
04:33Fruits are not yet sold in the market.
04:36His income comes from the sale of apple seedlings.
04:40We sell 3,000 to 3,500 each grafted apples.
04:47Aside from that, the Department of Agriculture also recognized
04:50his farm as a learning site for growing apples in the Philippines.
04:56You can visit here to learn about apple growing
04:59and it is free to harvest ripe fruits.
05:02Apples are considered as a temperate fruit.
05:05Usually, we can find it in places where it is wintry.
05:09But apples are also free to harvest.
05:12It is a highly adaptive fruit.
05:14We can plant it even in tropical areas.
05:17Benzone's family, who used to only grow apples,
05:20now has 2 hectares of farmland.
05:23And their crops have also grown.
05:27They also built their own house because of apples.
05:32I was able to earn a living because of growing apples here in the Philippines.
05:37Benzone's next goal is to grow apples.
05:42One of my goals is to reach the local market.
05:45It will help the community when it comes to farming.
05:49Nothing is impossible for a man full of dreams.
05:53We will wait for you Benzone.
05:56Don't miss the chance to taste the proudly Filipino apples.
06:26For more information, visit www.fema.gov