Tabuk lad makes a ‘La Trinidad’ in Kalinga flower biz

TABUK CITY, Kalinga — News of this farming city’s first commercial flower plantation spread like wildfire online and through word of mouth.

It first attracted attention in February as flowers in the plantation started to bloom.

Willord Cyn Basiyo Tade, 32, the man responsible for the attraction, smiles when he remembers the beginning of what is now a successful experiment that he started in 2008, after coming from China as a teacher.

Tabuk City is a lowland valley in Kalinga, one that has a high temperature. It is located about an hour away from Philippines’ hottest city – Tuguegarao.

But, Willord was able to create a “La Trinidad flower farm” in this city.

Tade’s routine now includes entertaining the flower lovers and the simply curious as they visit his 1,500 square meter flower garden at the edge of the Basiyo farm in sitio San Francisco, Barangay Dagupan West, this city.

Asked if he is willing to share the technology to potential competitors, Tade said that he would gladly transfer to them the common flower production techniques but not the secret techniques.

He said that is the way it is done in Benguet – the knowledge of how to produce better flowers and how to time the blooming with the seasons in the year when flowers are in high demand are closed family secrets.

Tade who was born and raised in Tabuk City, discovered the secret – marriage with Sheryl Pagnas, of Lower Tomay, La Trinidad, Benguet. Sheryl’s father, Frank, is a retired college of agriculture instructor who is one of the pioneers in chrysanthemum growing in La Trinidad – the first formula that he holds on to as he makes history by creating the first ever commercial flower plantation in the “Rice Granary of the Cordillera.”

Even then, it was not automatic. Starting in 2008 after coming home from working as an English teacher in Beijing China, he and wife, Sheryl, under the close supervision of Frank, took over the 1,000 square meter flower plantation of the family. Tade met Sheryl at the Pines City College in Baguio City where he was taking up nursing and the latter respiratory therapy. The first years were a learning experience when they often missed the targeted blooming time, but by 2011, they had the hang of it, thereby maximizing their garden.

The bulk of the harvest was sent to the Dimasalang flower market in Manila. An average of four boxes a day were sent via the Victory and Dangwa buses. The average content of each box is 35 dozens. The farm also supplied the chrysanthemum requirements of the first flower store in the city located in Barangay Bulanao; and the flower needs of city residents who have already learned of the existence of the flower farm. Tade said that their Dimasalang buyers got the chrysanthemums at the same price as those coming from Benguet. “The quality of the flowers is comparable to those grown in La Trinidad. The difference is that they have larger flowers and stems because the plant is new to the soil,” Tade said.

“Our next problem was our limited production. It was then that the idea to expand came to us but we could only act on it last year. So many people, including close relatives, said Tabuk is the wrong place to expand, but the doubts challenged us. I do not see why it could not be done in Tabuk because Davao, La Union, Bicol and Isabela also produce flowers.”

Tade recalls that, at the start, they received so many discouraging remarks but since the flowers bloomed, they are reaping not just flowers but also praises.

According to Tade, for the experimental flower crop to succeed, he had to summon all the remedies he gained from his La Trinidad experience. There came a time when the chrysanthemums were already wilting, but he did not give up.

With the success of the experiment, Tade plans to expand the plantation to half hectare where he will plant flowers on staggered basis – producing blooms to sell from October to April to cover most of the year’s celebrations where flowers are a must. In this endeavor, his mother, Cynthia Basiyo Tade, one of those who doubted him at first, is now with him in the activity.

He said that his mother is even planning to develop a marshy section of the lot into a resort as an allied business to the flower plantation.