Cactus Farming: Prickly Pear, Dilangbaka and Dragon Cactus
Growing a unique and exotic variety of a fruit-bearing cactus can help make marginal lands more productive.
By Dell H Grecia
Woman's Journal October 7, 2000, In his memory as one of the most prolific writers for three decades as columnist (Women's Journal), and TV co-host with Gerry Geronimo Ating Alamin
Do you want to grow plants and trees that are unique and exotic? Then why not try growing the so-called prickly pears, as suggested by Dr. Domingo D. Tapiador, president of the Spirulina Foundation of the Philippines and former managing director of “Botsteq” Farms (agricultural consultants on prickly pear farming in Botswana and South Africa)?
For a backyard project, at least 25 plants of prickly pears can be grown in a 100-square- meter area, giving you at least 10 to 20 kilograms of fruits a year.
A. What is a Prickly Pear? (Above photos)
The plant belongs to the “Opuntia species” of the family “Cactaceae”. It is a cactus plant that grows essentially in desert and semi-desert regions. It is not the same as the wild thorny types of cactus found in many countries of the world, including the Philippines, which are all considered “weeds”.
The prickly pear is one of the most important achievements of Luther Burbank, the famous American plant breeder who, between the years 1849 and 1926, spent most of his time selecting and improving Opuntia cultivars that are suitable for commercial production.
The plant is an edible “spineless cactus”. It is also referred to as a “medical cactus,” especially as an herbal for diabetics. Indigenous to South and Central America, it has been cultivated in Mexico as a multi-purpose crop for the past 6,000 years or so. The prickly pear’s leaves, canned as vegetables, have long been exported by Mexico to Europe, and are called nopalitos.
The following countries now grow and export prickly pears: Mexico, Greece, Italy and South Africa.
Prickly pears abhor water-logged areas. Hence, your garden must be plotted and should have good drainage. Percolation should also be good. Hence, soil must be sandy loam, if possible. Heavy or sticky soil, though, can be improved through the application of abundant compost or organic fertilizer. Windbreakers should also be considered. Thus, you may grow ipil-ipil or any fast-growing trees around your area if you have the space for these.
B. Good for Marginal Lands
Marginal land areas that are unproductive, hilly or rolling are possible areas for the commercial farming of prickly pears. Waste cogon or talahib lands can also be utilized. The areas, however, must be planted with windbreakers like ipil-ipil and the fast-growing tree, gmelina.
Another potential site is the vast lahar area of Pampanga, where the upper slopes can be planted with prickly pear.
C. Sources of Planting Materials
Prickly pears can be propagated either by seeds or leaves. The former would take five or more years before bearing fruit. The leaves, therefore, is the most common method of propagating the plant. The leaves are allowed to wilt (air-dried) for at least four to six weeks prior to planting by leaving them uncovered in a semi-shaded place.
When a leaf is planted, the leaf itself will serve as the main stem of the plant, and the young developing leaves will serve as the framework of the prickly pear plant.
The plant has a superficial, fleshy root system, which is responsible for supplying both nutrients and water to the plant. Under favorable soil conditions, a tap-root develops which penetrates deep into the soil. Under drought conditions, fleshy side-roots develop from these tap-roots to take in soil moisture from the lower levels.
The plant’s leaves will need pruning from six months onward-for optimum fruit production. Normal fruit production, unlike from seed propagation, can take up to two years; sometimes only within a year. In case of an early so as not to deplete the reserves of the single-leaf plant.
Thirty or more fruits can be harvested from a single leaf of the prickly pear. The fruits range in size from 80 to 100 grams for the small fruits, 100 to 150 grams for the medium size, and 150 grams and over for the large ones.
The plant will live and continue bearing fruits yearly, for twelve years or more.
D. Uses for the Fruits
Aside from being eaten fresh, the fruit may be turned into marmalades, crystallized fruit, jelly, juices, ice cream and desert sauces. The over-ripe or rejected fruits can also be processed into popular alcoholic drinks, like the tequila from Mexico and the cream liqueur from South Africa.
E. Nutritious Leaves
In addition to the fruit, another source of profit are the leaves- 80 to 90 tons per hectare a year are produced in South Africa, in fact.
The flesh of the leaves is soft and gel-like and contains many nutrients (especially phytochemicals) and minerals that have led to its recognition as a prized food in many parts of the world.
The leaves can be used in salads or cooked and canned like green vegetables. They can also be made into pickles, similar to gherkins.
Dilang-baka, Nopalea cochinellifera, or wooly joint prickly pear
On the other hand, the leaves are also excellent fodder for cattle and other ruminants like goats, especially during droughts. With the “El Niňo” weather phenomenon, the harvesting of the leaves of prickly pear assumes special significance.
Also, leaves can be processed into soap by mixing these with fat, caustic soda and water, and cooking it until it becomes an alternative for soap.
F. Medicinal Uses
Prickly pear is a healthy food for diabetics because it slows the digestion of carbohydrates, thereby reducing the insulin production. It helps lower one’s blood sugar level and contains few calories and sodium.
The juice of the prickly pear is widely used as an anti-inflammatory diuretic. If there is pain during urination is recommended.
Prickly pear also helps heal injuries. Prickly pears can be used to treat contusions, bruises, and burns. The gel from the prickly pear softens the skin, decreases the tension against the injury and lessens the pain.
Moreover, the prickly pear also helps the liver and bloodstream in the cleansing of toxic wastes.
G. Dragon Fruit
This is another species of cactus, the Dragon Cactus. The color of the fruit is bright pinkish red; it is the so-called “secret” fruit of Vietnam. A fruit weighs one kilogram. It is characterized by the presence of prominent calyxes arranged like the eyes of an Irish
potato
.
Mrs. Cecille Rotor, wife of my friend Dr. Abe V. Rotor, brought the fruits to the Philippines from her recent trip in Vietnam. Says Mrs. Rotor: “The skin is tight and leathery. To peel it, one must cut the fruit into two or four. White or red fleshy mass is studded with countless tiny seeds. In fact, there is no way to eat without also taking in the seeds. It’s delicious, refreshing, with fine texture and firmness like a ripe guava minus the aroma. The cactus has a spine forming at intervals on the long unbranched proto-trunk. It has the appearance of the saguaro or prickly pear.”
According to my friend Abe who once traveled to Mexico, he first saw the Dragon cactus there and had assumed that it belonged to the prickly pear group. The plant is taller than a man, its fruit half the size of a closed fist, and is red when ripe.
The stout trunk is cylindrical, bearing fleshy, flattened and ascending jointed branches. The joints are green, 10 to 25 cm. long. This description, according to Abe, is similar to that of the Philippines’ dilang-baka which bears berries 5 cm. long, pear-shaped, fleshy, many-seeded, colored red, and is known to be edible.
Abe suspects that the dilang-baka cactus is the same species as the edible Mexican cactus. It must have been introduced into the country by the Spaniards- among other plants brought from Mexico like avocado, kalachuchi and acacia.
Who knows? Perhaps cactus farming will once and for all provide the answer to how we can make our marginal lands productive.Today a number of dragon fruit farms are showing the way. ~
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