It’s that time of year again when families, friends and workmates make plans for a fun nature trip. Here in Negros, aside from hitting the beach and exploring the mountains, among the latest addition to the list of fun activities one can do while communing with nature is strawberry picking in Patag, Silay City.
Social media went abuzz about the latest summer activity that families and friends can enjoy a couple of years back when locals who visited backyard farms posted photos and videos of them happily picking locally-grown strawberries.
But before anyone’s excitement goes through the roof, if strawberry picking is on your list of must-do activities this summer, you might wanna think again. Why?
These backyard-grown red and luscious strawberries have been scarce since the last quarter of 2022. Blame it on climate change.
Farmers in Patag that I have talked to said their farm yield dropped significantly since incessant rains hit the province in November.
“It is strawberry season but there are no ripe strawberries”, declared Yorihisa Goto, director of Ikaw-Ako Foundation and Baliguan Agroforestry Association (BAFA).
Goto, a former professor and farmer, is helping farmers in Patag, Silay City in Negros Occidental improve farming technology to increase productivity. He said heavy rains that went on until the end of February, battered most of their crops, including vegetables. “Now, it gets too hot and humid, which is not good also for strawberries”, he added. He explained, strawberries grow under a temperate climate. Daylight and moderate temperate climate are important for flower-bud formation.
Goto and his partner Aimee Alpas brought me to one of the 18 greenhouses built for growing strawberries in Patag. Strawberries grow in black pots on racks. He explained they have to elevate the plants from the ground to keep it away from ants.
From Newland, I headed to Kuyong Farm where I was to experience strawberry picking for the first time. When I got there, there were only a few pots left with ripe strawberries dangling on its stems. “Sayda naman tani strawberry picking kay dapat damo ni tani bunga”, (it is supposed to be the best time to go strawberry picking because it is supposed to be strawberry season) farm owner Rosario Villarenia quipped as she handed me a pair of scissors so that I can try my hands on harvesting strawberries.
Since there were not many strawberries to pick, I did everything in slow motion, savoring every minute I had to bask in strawberry picking glory. Haha! For a few minutes, I was a kid again!
I barely got a handful but that made me happy especially when I got to experience putting freshly-picked strawberries from the pots straight to my mouth.
“Even in January and February when our harvests were supposed to be at its peak, many walk-in guests ended up disappointed because there were very few ripe strawberries for picking,” said Bonifacio.
Albion and Sweet Charlie that belong to the ever-bearing strawberry variety, grow in the backyard of the Villarenias. According to Bonifacio, ever-bearing strawberries produce two crops every year. Albion and Sweet Charlie are among the best ever-bearing varieties for the tropics. But even these varieties are having a hard time recovering from leather rot due to heavy rainfall. Leather rot causes blossoms to be infected because excessive rainfall promotes disease.
So if one intends to go strawberry picking, the best thing to do is to call the local farm you intend to visit first and ask if they have strawberries ripe for picking.
Bonifacio and wife Rosario, are both outstanding farmers and are among recipients of an P11M grant from Japan to support strawberry growing in Negros Occidental, as part of initiatives to commercialize Japanese quality strawberries and promotion of Highland Agri-Tourism. The grant was funded by the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO projects program and the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) said Goto.
Backyard strawberry farms are situated in Baliguan, Totong, Ladlad and Newland, all in Patag. The local government has been in close partnership with the NGO headed by Goto in training farmers to help them gain expertise and also to transfer technology to those who also want to grow strawberries.
“The LGU is providing all technical and financial support to farmers. Our Tourism Office and other concerned offices are actively helping promote the produce and the backyard farms to increase livelihood opportunities,” said Mayor Joedith Gallego. “The city provides vehicles to bring their harvest to Bacolod and other parts of the province,” Gallego added.
But Rosario said, for months since November, farmers have been praying for the climate to improve so that their crops can recover. Even vegetables were not spared from the damage brought about by excessive rainfall. All they can do now is hope for an abundant harvest soon.
“We can hardly harvest 2 kilos of strawberries a day,” said Rosario.
Whatever little harvest they have, is brought to the family’s eatery to make their bestselling fresh strawberry milkshake.
I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews about their much-talked about strawberry milkshake that I made sure I did not leave Patag without having a slurp. It did not disappoint! It was heavenly-delicious and addicting! I had a packed day and that strawberry milkshake literally gave my coverage a sweet finish.*
