A major mango-exporting company has developed a new variety of hybrid honey melon that yields more fruits and is resistant to crop pests. “We just had a successful harvest after the first trial cycle of honey melon last week, and we are happy to have witnessed it with some of our DA [Department of Agriculture] officials,” said Antonio Tiu, president and chief executive of AgriNurture Inc.

“Honey melon is higher-yielding than other local varieties and it has qualities that are perfect for exports,” he said. “First, it is resistant to crop disease and infection, and most importantly, it is resilient during transport and packing.” Honey melon could be harvested in only 55 days, Tiu said, and farmers could achieve two croppings per year.

He said honey melon was a different variety of the cantaloupe that thrives on tropical soil, and is sweeter, more aromatic and more succulent than other varieties in the market today. The company official said honey melon was a viable revenue-earning crop for Filipino farmers. Tiu committed to support farmers in the propagation, financing and marketing of the produce.

“A farmer who has one hectare of land and the necessary farm inputs can earn up to a million pesos a year and we are willing to buy his produce at a guaranteed price,” he said. “We are expanding. The opportunity is boundless. What we need to do is innovate agricultural technology and create marketing opportunities for the Filipino farmers.” Tiu said the company was now looking at Asia to export the product.

“But we want to saturate first the local fruits market. Though exportation is definitely part of the our future plans,” said Janssen Cea, business development head. AgriNurture said it was now in the process of expanding to cater to both local and international markets. The company expressed optimism that it would sustain growth in agricultural exports with the innovations of technology in the country.