Quench your thirst with Bani’s juicy pakwan

By VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO

BANI  - With the summer season now in full swing, the scorching heat of the sun seem to effect frequent thirst.

Quench your thirst with the juiciest watermelon from the best pakwan- producing town of Pangasinan - Bani.

Bani, Pangasinan Mayor Gwen Palafox Yamamoto (right) and a watermelon vendor show the fleshy sweet and succulent red  part of the fruit Filipinos called "pakwan" (Photo grab from the internet)

For five years now, the local government of Bani has been staging the Pakwan Festival to showcase its prime product and help its farmers gain their fullest potentials.

Mayor Gwen Palafox Yamamoto said Bani has been producing quality watermelon which traders have been buying by hectares and hauled into trucks.

Some 10 barangays of the town are into pakwan farming covering 240 hectares of the land area. 

“Before, our farmers' worry is where to sell the products. Now, kahit hindi pa masyadong hinog, pinapaharvest na ng mga traders dahil marami na ang naghahanap,” Yamamoto told the Philippine Information Agency.

Even before the land is planted, the plantation area  is already being contracted by traders per hectare.

Bani watermelon are sold as far as Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Laguna, Cavite and the National Captal Region, the Mayor added.

A good harvest yields good income for the farmers. A farmer who invests P20,000 for one planting season can sell the produce as high as P80,000, giving him a net profit of P60,000. 

Bani Pakwan Growers Association President Julie Calisaan shares the secret of Bani’s sweet and juicy pakwan.

“Pinakamatamis ang pakwan dito sa amin dahil ang pinagdidilig dito (na tubig) ay hindi masyadong matabang, may alat o brackish. Ang  pagdilig ay mano-mano gamit ang  tabo, hindi flooding at talagang maingat kami sa pagtatanim,” Calisaan said. 

Calisaan added that challenges are present in every endeavour like calamities and climate change. At times when production is very high, buyers could not haul everything and farmers just sell these at a very low price or ‘bagsak-presyo’.

But the municipal government is bent on rising above these challenges. It is eyeing the establishment of a green house in the municipal farm which can produce pakwan year-round. 

“We are also gearing towards organic farming. Unti-unti, magiging  100 percent na chemical -free ang pagtatanim but still giving the best quality pakwan in Luzon,” Yamamoto said. 

And just when you think pakwan is only round-shaped, think again. In Bani, pakwan comes in oval and square and in various colors, too- red and yellow.

Pakwan  is skilfully grown in special  molding plates to produce various shapes. 

The municipal government aims to protect the name of Bani watermelons. it is looking into the certification process of pakwan that the product is indeed from the town.

“Pinapangalagaan namin ang pangalan at quality ng Bani pakwan. Tunog pa lang,  paghiwa pa lang, alam na na ito ay Bani pakwan,” the mayor said. (VHS/PIA-Pangasinan)