Agriculture.ph Blog

Does coconut oil contains cholesterol? Can it cause an increase in cholesterol level?

Coconut oil is of vegetable source so it has no cholesterol. According to a US conducted study, coconut oil is neutral and does not cause an increase in cholesterol level. Coconut oil is rich in saturated fats and people equate it with animal fats, which go around all parts of the circulation system carrying a heavy load of cholesterol.

What is the difference between VCO and other commercial coconut oils?

VCO differs from other coconut oils in the way it is processed. The majority of the coconut oils available in the market are from copra. Copra is the dried coconut meat, and basically the oil that could be pressed from it is no longer fresh. VCO simply comes from fresh coconut meat or non-copra. It does not need to undergo refining processes since it already produced an edible oil.

How does coconut oil helps HIV+ patients?

Monoglyceride of lauric acid from coconut oil has been found effective in disrupting the lipid membranes of the enveloped HIV viruses. In addition, its being an MCT (medium chain triglyceride) is good for patients as it contributes to faster surgical recovery.

13 tons corn per hectare!

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — With just one spray with a new growth-enhancing formulation, a farmer in Pangasinan was able to produce 13 tons of corn kernels (14% moisture content) in one hectare.

That’s the good news that our friend, Alfonso G. Puyat, brought to us a couple of days ago. Puyat is a dedicated researcher who has long been making studies on how to enhance yields of rice, corn and other crops at affordable costs.

Puyat has been developing his plant growth-enhancing formulations for a number of years now. He only has tentative names for them such as Philor Formula I and Philor Formula II. Patents are still pending but in the meantime, they are being tried by scientific researchers as well as by hands-on farmers.

One of the recent users is Oftociano “Anong” Manalo of Balungao, Pangasinan who is also the president of the North and Central Luzon Federation of Irrigators Associations. Last January 15, he planted Bt corn Dekalb 9132 on 6,300 square meters. Three-and-a-half months later, he harvested 12.3 tons of fresh corn-on-the-cob. That’s equivalent to 19.53 tons per hectare. When shelled and dried to a moisture content of 14 percent, the yield is equivalent to 13 tons per hectare.

Aside from the conventional fertilizer that Manalo applied (5 bags of complete fertilizer 14-14-14 at planting time and sidedressing of 2 bags urea and 1 bag 0-0-60), he just sprayed Puyat’s Philor Formula 1 only once when the corn plants were waist-high after hilling up.

Puyat’s formulation which did the trick consists of single elements of plant food which he combined together plus ANAA, a plant growth regulator. The spray costs only about P250 per hectare, yet the increase in yield is tremendous. It is also very easy to apply.

Puyat’s two formulations were also compared with Wokozim (a well known fertilizer) and control (not treated with fertilizer). On a per row basis, the Wokozim-treated corn plants yielded 17.8 kilos while the control plants (not fertilized) gave 15 kilos. Puyat’s Formula 1 with trace element yielded 30 kilos, a 100% increase over the control. On the other hand Formula II gave 26 kilos which is 73.33% higher than the yield of the control plants.

In the farm of Rosendo So in Rosales, Pangasinan, the corn plants were sprayed with Formula I about 34 days after planting. Then the growth of the plants was measured two months after planting. It was found that the sprayed plants were 95 inches tall on the average while the unsprayed plants were only 66 inches tall.

The yield of the sprayed plants was much higher – 88 percent higher than the unsprayed.

Puyat is very upbeat about his new technology. It could significantly increase corn production not only in the Philippines but also abroad.

If it is adopted in the United States, it could greatly help that country rebound from its economic crisis. That’s because the US has a vast growing area for corn and other cereals like soybean and wheat. Then it can supply the rest of the world with its agricultural produce.

Coconut sugar from coco shell

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — Would you believe that a new kind of coconut sugar can be extracted from the shell of mature coconut? It looks unimaginable but the fact is that a P2-billion company has been set up at the DADC Economic Zone in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, to produce the novel product.

The company is called CJ Toyota Tsu Sho Philippines, Inc., said to be a joint venture of Japan’s biggest car company and a Korean partner. The company has a huge processing facility that was inaugurated about a couple of months ago.

The product is called Xylose coco sugar and is said to be for export to Japan and Korea. The product comes in very fine powder form that is immaculate white. It is very sweet and is said to be used for the manufacture of toothpaste, chewing gum and possibly other products that need sweetener.

Administrator Euclides Forbes of the Philippine Coconut Administration showed us a sample of the product and also let us taste the same. It’s really very sweet, and is said to have an even lower glycemic index (GI) than coconut sugar made from the toddy or tuba from the unopened coconut flower. This would be perfect for diabetics.

The company is said to be buying coconut shell for P5 per kilo. After extracting the sugar from the shell, the shell that has been broken to pieces can still be used to make activated carbon by subjecting the same to very high temperature.

Coco peat into organic fertilizer – There’s a P10-million project between the Department of Agriculture and PCA to convert into organic fertilizer the huge volume of coco peat, the coco dust that is the byproduct of coconut coir extraction. About 70 percent of the coconut husk is coco peat. The organic fertilizer is intended for fertilizing coconuts. Coco peat will be blended with chicken manure and salt. It has been proven that salt is an effective fertilizer for coconuts.

One fellow who is also converting coco peat into organic fertilizer is Eric Rabat of Mati City. The fertilizer is made by mixing coco peat with chicken manure and inoculating the same with Biosec, a formulation of beneficial microorganisms supplied by Dr. Rene Sumaoang of Novatech.

Coco husk as goldmine – Administrator Forbes revealed that the Philippines produces 15 billion nuts a year, meaning also 15 billion coconut husks. Only a very small portion of this is processed into something of value. In fact the Philippines exports only about 4,500 metric tons of coconut coir a year.

In Kerala, India, he said, they earn $600 million a year from different products produced out of coconut husk.

Coconut in Aurora – Atty.Forbes used to wonder why there are so many coconut trees in Aurora province but there is not a single mill to process the harvest. Then somebody told him that the production is mostly absorbed by the “buko” juice and “bucayo” makers in Pangasinan and Baguio.

Coso sugar capital – Many of the coconut sugar producers are found in Carmen and other towns of North Cotabato. That is why the local government officials would want to declare North Cotabato as the coco sugar capital of the Philippines. The advantage of North Cotabato is that many of their coconuts are dwarf so that it is much easier to extract the toddy from the unopened flowers.

There are not as many coco sugar producers in Laguna and Quezon, according to Adm. Forbes, because thecoconut trees in these two provinces are old and very tall.

Besides North Cotabato, an increasing number of coco sugar makers are now found in Davao and Zamboanga. By the way, coco sugar comes in varying colors. There is a light colored variety which is produced through cooking with slow fire so that the resulting sugar does not get burned. This one is used for making cakes. There is a graduated scale of colors, from light to medium to dark and very dark brown. The chocolate brown is considered next to the poorest grade. The poorest grade is almost black, but this one still has one use. It can be made into a syrup and used for dipping “suman”.

Where are the coconuts? – Where do you find the most number of coconut trees in the country? Not Quezon, not Laguna, not in Mindanao, according to Atty. Forbes. The biggest concentration of coconut trees today is in the Samar- Leyte area.

PCA events – Watch for the celebration of the 38th anniversary of the Philippine Coconut Authority on June 30. This coming August, PCA will be staging the annual Coco Festival at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. The exact date is not yet definite.

Farming can be very frustrating

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — Farming means hard work and while it is often gratifying, it can also be very frustrating.

It can be frustrating if it is not well planned. Just like what happened to a friend who has the money and the land but does not have much experience in planning a farming operation.

One day, he read about the wellness value of guyabano. So he went around and immediately bought 300 seedlings which he brought to his farm. He has two farmhands who were tasked to plant the seedlings. The problem was that the workers were inexperienced in planting fruit trees. They were used to taking care of tilapia and hito but not plants.

The workers took a long time to dig the holes for planting. Meantime, they didn’t bother to water the seedlings every day. As a result almost half of them withered and died.

Naturally the businessman farm owner who visited the farm only during weekends was really frustrated. He had paid good money for the seedlings which just withered away.

The lesson? He should have made sure that he had the right persons to take care of the planting. Perhaps, he could have bought just 20 or 30 seedlings that his men could have taken care of initially. Later, he could have bought more plants after seeing the result of his initial planting.

One other friend who combines business in the city and farming in his hometown in Central Luzon was really downhearted when his new farm worker just let the carabao on the farm devour his prized young Mama Sita banana. Then another frustrating experience was when another farm worker decided to resign without advising him beforehand and there was no other man to take over the chores of watering the fruit trees and vegetables that have to be watered every day. Naturally, many of the young trees and vegetables were really stressed. As stressed as the farm owner himself.

A lady we had known for a long time has a big family farm in western Pangasinan. We know she had been buying a lot of grafted mango seedlings and other exotic fruit trees.

When we met her lately, we asked her about her farm. She shook her head and said she should have known better. Many of the young mango and other trees that she planted perished because she had not fenced them. She said many of the young trees were eaten by the cows.

Anyway, she said she has learned her lesson. One should not plant more trees than what she and her workers could take good care of. Even if one would plant only a few trees if they are well taken care of, that would be much better than planting hundreds of them that are not given proper care, she said.

Another frustrated fruit farmer came to us recently. He said he had cut down his pummelo trees because of their poor eating quality. The seller had assured him that they were the Davao pummelo (he understood it to be Magallanes). It was only after four years that the variety he bought was of the inferior kind. He had lost four years in the process. It was a losing and definitely a frustrating experience. The lesson is that it is best to taste the fruit of the planting materials before buying, especially if it is for a big plantation.

One pilot had also complained to us one day. He has a farm in Lipa City and he was telling us that farming is not really enjoyable and fulfilling as we have portrayed in our articles about successful farmers.

His problem was that he had a very lazy farm worker. Instead of taking care of his fruit trees, fertilizing, watering and weeding them, his farm worker spends most of his time attending to his own fighting cocks.

Well, it is really frustrating if you don’t have reliable farm workers.

Another investor told us of his own frustration with his brother in law. This guy happens to be a contract grower of broilers in his hometown in Cagayan Valley. Since his wife who held a high position in a bank was transferred to another province, he the husband decided to relocate with her. Then he asked his brother in law to operate the contract growing operation.

The brother in law is experienced in raising broilers so our friend thought there would be no problem. But there was a big problem. The brod-in-law had his own agenda. He added a hundred chicks of his own to the birds in one house. This means that his 100 chickens had a free ride. They partook of the feeds intended for the birds of the integrator. Naturally, the legitimate chickens did not attain the right weight so the margin was very small.

The lesson, according to our friend, is that in agribusiness it is hard to trust even your relatives. You have to be a hands-on operator.

He retired to go farming

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — One fellow who is proving that there is more money to be earned from farming than from one’s employment is Reynaldo Hilario of Brgy. Caanipahan, Talavera, Nueva Ecija.

He resigned his job as electrical control operator of the National Power Corporation after working for more than 17 years to concentrate on high-value vegetable production. He is farming on 3.5 hectares that his family owns, one hectare of which is devoted to rice while the rest is for vegetable production.

One of the recent varieties he planted on 3,000 square meters was the Ambassador cucumber variety developed by the East-West Seed Company. From that crop, he was able to harvest 20 tons in a growing period of just over two months. Although he sold his harvest at only P5 per kilo, he was able to gross P100,000. He estimated that he spent only P16,800 that included the cost of seeds, fertilizers, labor and other inputs.

Earlier, he had produced bumper crops of ampalaya, especially the Galaxy variety. He observes that Galaxy fruits are preferred by customers and command a premium price in the market. In addition, Galaxy is resistant to pests and diseases. Another variety from East-West that he plants is the Galactica which is resistant to the virus disease called “namamarako.” He plants this during the months of October to February.

Rey has received awards for his achievements in vegetable farming. In 2009, he received the “Natatanging Magsasaka Award” from Talavera Mayor Nery Santos. And in recognition of his knowledge, he was named Magsasaka Siyentista by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).

Hilario’s farm is now used as a science and technology-based demo farm for off-season production of vegetables. He is well respected in his community and fellow farmers regularly go to him for advice on vegetable production.

Agrilink 2011 set October 6-8

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s most-attended agricultural trade expo will be staged on October 6 to 8 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. This time the event will highlight farm integration as key to sustainable agriculture.

This year’s expo will be the eighteenth edition of the event that started as PigLink in Davao City. It has expanded through the years to become Agrilink that has since been held in Metro Manila yearly. In the process, it eventually incorporated fisheries (Aqualink) and food (Foodlink).

The principal organizer of the annual expo is the Foundation for Resource Linkage and Development (FRLD) headed by Antonio V. Roces, its president.

According to Roces, “most farming systems today focus on large-scale, monoculture production systems which can work well in generating revenue in a short term basis, but there is apparent need for making these more eco-friendly and sustainable. There are also added concerns for technical, economic and structural developments to agricultural systems that would be more suitable to small farmers.”

Roces adds: “One way of improving the current agricultural approach is for farmers and stakeholders to work together in enhanced, integrated production systems which integrate soil quality enhancement, reduction of contamination and establish stronger farming communities with better revenues. The challenge for the government, the private sector and our farmers is to coordinate and complement with each other to adopt proven technologies and management systems in the development of these integrated farming systems.”

He said that the event’s theme, “Integration: Key to Sustainable Agriculture,” seeks to promote this holistic integration concept and approach towards a more productive, efficient and self-sustaining Philippine agribusiness.”

Roces adds that this year’s Agrilink “seeks to help in the process of effectively linking our farmers to the market and maximize their benefits from the value chain. Furthermore, the event aims to help both private and public sectors be better aware of each other’s strategic decisions and programs. The event likewise seeks to continue with its track record of developing key linkages with industry partners and stakeholders.

Roces cited the success among practitioners of organic agriculture, of which integration exemplifies. “Their system combines production sub-systems to obtain a full output that satisfies the needs of its target market. Organic agriculture effectively uses farm byproducts, increases long-term productivity, provides healthier food, diversifies farm community through enhanced ecological balance and soil conservation, and utilizes labor more efficiently.

He also stressed that “sustainable niche markets, like the organic food sector, would only be so if the production systems that support them are efficient, productive and competitive. The recently enacted Organic Agriculture Act is expected to exemplify this and help sustain our agricultural growth.”

For more information, email frld.agrilink@gmail.com

MANILA, Philippines – Most students who go to college usually look for employment after graduation. But there are a few who would rather become entrepreneurs and put up their own source of livelihood.

While there are risks to be faced by those who choose to go it alone, there are also rewards for those who are focused on what they want to undertake.

One fellow who took the self-employment route after college is Arthur L. Dacanay, 46, of Brgy. San Pedro Ili, Alcala, Pangasinan. He finished a course in mechanical engineering from the National University and while waiting for the results of the board exams, he thought of planting hybrid corn on 7,400 square meters that a retired tenant returned to Arthur’s family.

From that area, he was able to produce about three tons of white corn which he sold at P6.25 per kilo. He thought that farming could be a viable source of income after selling his first crop. And since then, he has developed the love for farming. He has been planting corn and rice on five hectares in the past many years. But the area will be expanded to eight hectares this coming November as another tenant who went to Hawaii will be turning over three more hectares.

One interesting experience was when planted for the first time the Bt corn called Healer 101 on just 3,000 square meters. He was able to harvest from that small area a total of 72 cavans of dried grains totaling 3,246 kilos which he sold at P12.10 per kilo, giving him a gross of P39,204. As per his record, he was able to net P26,423 from that 3,000 square meters.

During the rainy season, Arthur plants rice. For the past two consecutive years, he did not make money from rice because he planted a fancy variety that is low yielding. He was able to harvest only less than 250 cavans from the five hectares that he planted because of drought and floods that destroyed his crop.

During this coming planting season, however, Arthur will be trying Jollirice, a new hybrid rice being distributed by Bioseed Research Philippines based in General Santos City. As per the experience of farmers who have earlier planted this variety, it is high-yielding with a potential yield of 11 tons per hectare under favorable and good management conditions.

According to Mrs. Estrella Hidalgo, Bopseed product evaluation and agronomy manager, Jollirice is more resistant to drought than most other varieties. It has very sturdy stems so that it will not easily lodge. Moreover, this variety produces very long panicles, each containing as many as 300 to 400 grains. The eating quality is also excellent so that it can be sold in the market as a fancy variety. As such, it commands a higher price than other varieties.

Arthur does not regret becoming a full-time farmer rather than become an employee after graduation. He is leading a comfortable farm life with his wife Rowena. Aside from rice and corn, they have a small piggery and fruit trees.

Rice farming as a sideline

By ZAC B. SARIAN

MANILA, Philippines — Farming can be a good source of income even as just a sideline for those who are employed. In fact there are many people we know who are making good income from farming as a sideline.

One of the latest we met is Jesus Andres, better known simply as JC (for Jesus Christ because he was born on December 25). JC is from Brgy. Malayantok in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija, a major rice producing town.

JC who works as a full-time X-ray technician at the Science City Diagnostic Clinic in Munoz City, has been planting rice on two separate parcels of land in Sto. Domingo. One variety that he planted for the first time during the last season on 8,000 square meters was the Jollirice distributed by Bioseed Research Philippines.

When we met him at his farm they were busy harvesting and threshing their harvest. He reported that in a 1,000-square meter area that they harvested first, they were able to get 22 cavans of 58 to 60 kilos per cavan. That’s equivalent to 1,276 kilos. When translated into kilos per hectare, the yield would amount to 12.8 tons. That’s about 220 cavans per hectare.

At the time of our visit, the buying price per newly threshed palay in Sto. Domingo was P14.20 per kilo. The 1,276 kilos that was harvested from 1,000 square meters was therefore worth P18,119. And how much money did JC spend for producing his Jollirice crop that includes the cost of seeds, land preparation, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, harvesting and threshing, and other incidentals? For the whole 8,000 square meters, JC said he spent a total fo P34,000. The expense on the 1,000 square meters that he harvested first was only P4,250. Subtract that from the gross of P18,119 and you get a profit of P13,869.

Of course, the profit does not all go to the pocket of JC. One half of that will be the share of Benny Camus, his very reliable farm caretaker. Benny takes care of the chores like overseeing the land preparation, preparing the seedlings, planting, weeding, fertilization, spraying against pests and diseases and other chores on the farm. Benny is a high school graduate who has attended a lot of seminars on rice production.

Of course, the management of the farm is not left totally to Benny. JC also goes to the farm very often to check on the developments.

By the way, Jollirice is not recommended for planting in areas that are most of the time submerged in deep water. Estrella Hidalgo, product evaluation and agronomy manager of Bioseed, said that if the field is submerged with flood water most of the time, the plants will not develop a good root system and they will produce very few tillers.

Hidalgo recommends intermittent shallow irrigation and draining of the field. She said this will promote development of a lot of tillers that will produce grains. She adds that Jollirice is more resistant to drought than many other varieties. The panicles of Jollirice, she says, are also longer than those of most varieties. Each panicle may have 300 to 400 grains.

Another advice from Mrs. Hidalgo is that the panicles should be allowed to fully mature up to 115 days from planting before harvesting. The grains near the neck of the panicle should be allowed to fully ripen before harvesting. Otherwise, there will be a lot of broken grains when the palay is milled. The good thing about Jollirice, she adds, is that the grains don’t easily shatter. So there is no danger of the grains falling off the panicle even if the panicles are not harvested on time.

Another advice of Mrs. Hidalgo is that farmers should not apply a lot of urea once the rice plants have attained the booting stage. The nitrogenous fertilizer will just encourage the development of late tillers which will produce grains that will not be fully ripe when most of the panicles are ready for harvest.

One more trait of Jollirice that Mrs. Hidalgo is vey proud of is that the milled rice has excellent eating quality. It is aromatic, especially when newly milled, so that it can be sold as a fancy rice in the market which will command a high price.

By the way, JC and his wife Mary Rose have two young kids. They are JC’s two good reasons for him to engage in rice farming so that they can provide them with a good future. Mary Rose is a nurse who works as a CT Scan technician at the San Jose Heart of Jesus Hospital.