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CALAUAN, Laguna – Jaime M. Goyena is more than your typical gentleman farmer.

A plant breeder by training, and an expert one at that, Goyena boasts of harvesting the best rambutan fruits this side of the country.

"It is the sweetest rambutan in the Philippines," he told Malaya Business Insight.

And he has the credentials to show for it. In 1983, the Philippine Fruit Association cited Goyena for "the widest dissemination of the highest number of grafted plants to nine regions… contributing to the advancement of the Philippine fruit industry."

In 1995, he was honored with a Distinguished Alumnus Award in Fruit Crops Extension by the University of the Philippines Los Baños for his "significant contribution to the art and science of nursery management" and for his collection and propagation of superior fruit tree varieties.

His house, tucked in a corner of this town, has a backyard garden that is a veritable showcase that nurtures a variety of fruit trees: rambutan, lanzones, guapples, santol, durian, mangosteen, exotic fruits like the abiu and lipote and even the Miracle Plant from Ghana which, after it is chewed, turns sweet all things sour.

After chewing the berry-like Miracle Plant, one can sip a tablespoon of vinegar and it tastes sugary. The same is true with sour fruits like green mango.

At age 65, the BS Agriculture graduate is still hard at work, tilling a farm in Cavinti where he grows over 500 of his prized GR-5, or Goyena Rambutan-5, variety.

The GR-5 variety is the product of years of breeding that has produced a thicker pulp with a higher sugar content. The color of the peel is bright red and the fruit has a relatively longer shelf-life – making it ideal for export.

Goyena’s rambutan fruits, in fact, are shipped by a Los Baños firm to as far as Dubai.

Over 500 GR-5 trees are grown in his Cavinti farm, producing about five tons in one harvest season.

Goyena produces so much fruit that, with the technical help of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Southern Luzon, he has devoted excess harvest to making rambutan wine, one of Calauan’s best kept secrets.

"I don’t advertise," he Goyena says. "If it’s on the Internet, I’d be flooded with orders that I wouldn’t be able to meet."

During the 5th International Food Exhibition Philippines, the rambutan wine was given a special citation by the Department of Trade and Industry-Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions for its light, pleasant taste.

On the day we were there, Goyena was filling up an order for 20 bottles (P200 each) of rambutan wine for a Laguna parish priest who wanted his name on the label.

Goyena caters to the whims of customers with personalized wine bottles – without compromising the prominence of his Goyena’s Tropical Fruit Winery label.

The Goyena winery produces rambutan, pineapple, abiu, lipote, jackfruit and bignay fruit wines.

Recently, Philippine Airlines and Manila Hotel were asking how many bottles the winery is able to produce. Goyena won’t say exactly how much, saying instead that he needs capital to expand.

More than a wine maker, however, he remains a fruit farmer-scientist who sells his skillfully propagated fruit trees. His nursery is also a demonstration farm open to the public.

The Goyena farm abounds with fruit-bearing trees and grafted seedlings that are certified by the National Seed Industry Council.

"True-to-type produce are guaranteed once the seedlings bear fruits," Goyena says.

• Business Insight
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