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Location: Baliuag, Bulacan

IS IT “tuh-MAY-toh” or “tuh-MAH-to”? Whichever, pronunciation doesn’t matter when it comes to this fabulous nutritious crop once considered as poisonous. A botanist mistakenly took the tomato for the “wolf peach” referred to by Galen in his third century writings, that is, “poison in a palatable package which was used to destroy wolves.”

But the question that is still debatable: Is tomato really a vegetable or is it a fruit. By definition, a fruit is the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw and tomato can be categorized as such.

From the point of view of horticulturists, tomato is considered a vegetable plant.

Since “vegetable” is not a botanical term, there is no contradiction in a plant part being a fruit botanically while still being touted as a vegetable.

According to Andrew F. Smith’s The Tomato in America, the tomato probably originated in the highlands of the west coast of South America, where they grow wild in what is now Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador. They were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas as early as 700 AD.

After the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish distributed the tomato throughout their colonies in the Caribbean. They also took it to the Philippines, whence it moved to Southeast Asia and then the entire Asian continent.

The Spanish also brought the tomato to Europe. It grew easily in Mediterranean climates, and cultivation began in the 1540s. It was probably eaten shortly after it was introduced, and was certainly being used as food by the early 1600s in Spain.

The tomato plant was probably not grown in England until the 1590?s. One of the earliest cultivators was John Gerard, a barber-surgeon. Gerard’s Herbal, published in 1597 and largely plagiarized from continental sources, was also one of the earliest discussions of the tomato in England. Gerard knew that the tomato was eaten in both Spain and Italy.

Meanwhile, in Italy, thanks to tomato, pizza came to existence. Pizza was invented around Naples in the late 1880’s. The story goes that it was created by one restaurateur in Naples to celebrate the visit of Queen Margarite, the first Italian monarch since Napoleon conquered Italy.

The restaurateur made the pizza from three ingredients that represented the colors of the new Italian flag: red, white, and green. The red is the tomato sauce, the white was the mozzarella cheese, and the green was the basil topping. Hence, Pizza Margarite was born, and is still the standard for pizza.

In the United States, soup mogul Joseph Campbell came out in 1897 with condensed tomato soup, a move that set the company on the road to wealth as well as further endearing the tomato to the general public.

He may have made tomato soup popular, but the first recipe was credited to Maria Parloa whose 1872 book The Appledore Cook Book described her tomato chowder.

So much for history! The English word “tomato” comes from the Aztec word, tomatl. Botanist Tournefort provided the Latin botanical name, Lycopersicon esculentum. The French referred to the tomato as pommes d’amour, or love apples, as they thought them to have stimulating aphrodisiacal properties. Among Filipinos, tomato is called kamatis.

In most parts of the world, tomatoes are eaten freely, and their consumption is believed to benefit the heart among other things. They contain lycopene, one of the most powerful natural antioxidant which has been found to help prevent prostate cancer.

Tomato extract is now also being promoted for treatment of high blood pressure. Lycopene has also been shown to improve the skin’s ability to protect against harmful ultraviolet rays.

In the Western diet, tomato is the top source of Vitamin A and C. It also contains a significant amount of dietary fiber, beta-carotene, iron, magnesium, niacin, potassium, phosphorus, riboflavin and thiamine.

Nutritionists claim tomato is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. And unlike most foods, cooking or processing of tomato is beneficial to health. It increases its lycopene content (e.g. tomato paste, catsup, tomato soup, tomato sauce).

This is so because as heating up tomato breaks down its cell walls and releasing more lycopene. Test also shows that eating tomatoes has more benefits (with all of its other ingredients) than taking lycopene alone.

In the Philippines, the great variety of its uses leads to its popularity. It is one of the most common ingredients in salads. It is made into soup, pickle, catsup, sauce, and juice. Tomato is served raw, baked, stewed and as a sauce with various other foods.

There are two types of tomatoes grown in the country. The fresh market or table tomatoes are planted in both dry and wet season. Wet season is planting is more risky because tomatoes are very susceptible to pests and diseases brought about by continuous rain and high temperature.

The second type is the processing tomato planted only during the dry season especially in areas supposed to be idle such as lowland rice fields. Processing tomatoes are needed for industrial purposes in the manufacture of paste, sauce, and catsup.

Although tomatoes thrive on many types of soil, a fairly fertile, well-drained soil reasonably free from root-knot nematodes and bacterial wilt organism is best. A sandy loam soil is ideal especially when an early yield is desired. For longer and later yields, heavier soils are preferable.

“Tomato is generally considered a warm season crop that requires a relatively long season to productive profitable yield,” reminds the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac, Ilocos Norte. “The ideal planting for maximum production is from October to January to avail of the cool and dry climate growth and good fruit setting.”

Written by By Henrylito D. Tacio

Source: Sun Star

ECOTOURISM, which involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas to specifically study, admire and enjoy the scenery and its wildlife, was a highly acceptable environmental protection concept of the 1990s.

In time, the term “agritourism” came into existence. Coined from the two words — agriculture and tourism — it is a kind of a study tour among areas, which have been found to adopt organic farming and sustainable agricultural production.

Perhaps one of the top agritourism destinations in the country is the farm of the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC), a non-government organization based in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur. Nestled at the rolling foothills of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, it is “one of its kind,” to quote the words of former agriculture secretary Sonny Dominguez.

People from all over the world — from Australia to Zimbabwe — have come to see the area. Most of its visitors, however, are from Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, East Timor,
India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Every year, MBRLC is host to almost 10,000 visitors. Almost daily, groups arrive in batches just to see its “Disneyworld of sustainable farming systems,” which the center has developed through the years of experimentation and consultations.

“The MBRLC has been at the forefront of improving the lives of the Filipino people, both physically and spiritually,” said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the center’s 30th anniversary. “They have provided our people with the necessary guidance in order to become productive members of society.”

The first destination of those who come to center is its training hall, where they are oriented about what they will see and what they can do.

“Jesus Christ came into this world not only to save us but also to give us an abundant life,” explained Roy C. Alimoane, the center’s current director. “What we are doing here are proofs that we can have an abundant life.”

After the orientation, the group walks for about five minutes for their first stopover: Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (Salt 1). Basically, Salt is a method of growing crops between contoured rows of nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs. The hedgerows serve as a way to control soil erosion. They are also cut every month and the cuttings are placed in the alleys to serve as fertilizer for the crops.

The next place to visit: Simple Agro-Livestock Technology (Salt 2), where animals are introduced into the Salt system. “Our model farm is only one half hectare,” said livestock supervisor Rowe Celeste. Instead of raising cattle, which requires a land area of one hectare per animal, MBRLC recommends goats. “Although a goat is small, she can produce as much as four liters of milk every day if she is purebred and is given a ration to meet all of her nutritional requirements,” he said.

The dairy goat they recommend is Anglo-Nubian. However, they are also raising Boer goats, as a source of meat. This breed originated from South Africa where the word “boer” means “farm.”

After 20 minutes, the group moves to the next project: Sustainable Agroforest Land Technology (Salt 3). “Where in the world can you find a system where trees and crops are planted together?” asks Aniano Ramos, who usually tours visitors at the farm. Actually, one hectare is devoted to forestry and another hectare to agricultural crops.

Finally, the group ends their first segment of the tour at the Small Agrofruit Livelihood Technology (Salt 4).ÿ See how fruit trees like rambutan, durian, lanzones, mangosteen, marang, and guava are planted together in rows.

“Mindanao is touted to be the fruit basket of the country,” Alimoane said.

All of the Salt systems are located in upper portion of the center.

Zacarias B. Sarian, a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award who visited the training center in 1998, commented: “It is not surprising therefore that MBRLC is a favorite destination of people from here and abroad looking for a model of upland farming.”

In the lower part of the center, one of its noted systems is the Food Always In The Home (Faith). Called as “refrigerator in the farm,” this 100-square-meter vegetable garden provides sufficient vegetables for a family with six members throughout the year.

The central feature of the garden is the basket composts. Their main purpose is “to directly use plant nutrients that can be derived from the rotting materials for home food production,” Alimoane said.

As a practitioner of organic farming, the center advocates vermicomposting, the process of converting biodegradable wastes from households and farms into compost (organic soil) through the action of earthworms.

The center is also raising swine, whose manure is utilized in producing biogas. Later on, the sludge is used as organic fertilizer for the fruit trees. The biogas is used in pasteurizing the milk they processed.

There are seven fish ponds found in the lowest portion of the farm. In these ponds, tilapia is raised, which is fertilizer with goat manure. In addition to commercial feeds, tilapia is also given azolla.

The center provides training to those who are interested to immerse further. “Our aim is to promote projects and systems that would enable rural people to improve their standard of living,” said Elsa N. Ablayon, head of the training department.

The MBRLC is located 10 kilometers away from the town of Bansalan. To get there, you have to take a bus going to Cotabato City. The travel time is about two hours from the Ecoland Terminal. Outside of the center is a signage so visitors won’t miss it.

There are places to stay at the farm. There is a two-door duplex with two rooms each and a bathroom. There are also bunkhouses and dormitory type rooms at reasonable prices.

Be sure to contact the MBRLC first before coming to the center. You can e mail them at mbrlc@mozcom.com. You can also call their office at 064-533-2378.

Written By Henrylito D. Tacio

Source: Sun Star

“NOTICE that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind,” the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee once said.

No wonder, most Asian cultures believe that humanity emerged from a bamboo stem. In the Philippines, for instance, legend tells that the first man and the first woman each emerged from split bamboo stems on an island created after the battle of the elemental forces (sky and ocean).

In Malaysia, a similar legend tells of a man who dreams of a beautiful woman while sleeping under a bamboo plant; he wakes up and breaks the bamboo stem, discovering the woman inside.

Bamboo is known as the world’s tallest grass. But recently, it has received a new tag: “the grass of hope.” Although bamboo has been part of their art and culture, it was only recently that Chinese leaders took the plant seriously and is now building a massive bamboo industry.

Some years back, a Dabawenyo reported that other Asian countries, the United States, and France were making a killing out of bamboo. “The tragedy here in the Philippines,” he said, “is that we have an abundance of bamboo but we don?t know much about. It is so common that we ignore its potentials. Other countries have already seen not only the beauty but the potentials of bamboo.”

But today, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is looking at bamboo in a different manner. “Bamboo is now recognized as the material of the millennium,” it said. “The versatility of bamboo proves to be of greater potential that the demand for the product continues to increase in terms of production and utilization. Aside from this, the international market demands more bamboo products that could help boost the flailing economy of our country.”

All over the globe, there are 91 genera and about 1,000 species of bamboo, generally known as kawayan in the Philippines. There are eight commercial species grown in the country and most of them can be found in Iloilo, Davao, Bukidnon and some parts of Luzon.

Bamboo, the most diverse group of plants in the grass family, is distinguished by a woody culm, complex branching, a generally robust rhizome system and infrequent flowering. Long known as the “poor man’s timber,” it is often listed as a “minor” forest product.

“Bamboo is not a weed, it’s a flowering plant. Bamboo is a magnificent plant,” commented Steve Lacy.Thomas Edison supposedly used a carbonized bamboo filament in his experiments in developing the light bulb.

Alexander Graham Bell also used bamboo for his first phonograph needle. “You can eat, wear, and build with bamboo,” said Michael Block.

The bamboo shoot (new bamboo culm that comes out of the ground) is food for many Asians. In the Philippines, they are made into pickles, fresh lumpia, or simply cooked with coconut and shrimps. In Thailand, bamboo salt seasoning and bamboo salt soybean paste can be bought in the public markets. The Taiwanese consume as much as 80,000 metric tons of bamboo shoots per year to make pickled bamboo shoots, one of their most popular fares.

Some of the most popular species of bamboo used for food are “kawayan tinik” (Bambusa blumeana), “bayog” (Dendrocalamus merrillianus), “bolo” (Gigantochloa levis), giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper), and “kayali” (Gigantochloa atter).

Just a health warning: shoots of some species contain toxins that need to be leached or boiled out before they can be eaten safely.

“With the increasing awareness on the many health attributes and recipes one can make out of bamboo shoots, it is now gaining popularity within the broader population and in the global market,” reports Nimfa Torreta of the Department of Science and Technology. “There is also a worldwide interest on bamboo shoots because of the growing population of Asian ethnic origin around the world who have particular preference and taste for Asian food.”

Bamboo shoots have a huge potential for market. Export of bamboo shoot from Thailand in 1994 was pegged at US$29.50 million. Japan has a steady market of 250 tons per month while Australia imports 6,000- 12,000 tons of canned bamboo shoots annually.

In terms of exports, the bamboo’s potential remains in the areas of furniture and handicrafts, whose global market grows at an annual average of US$8-billion. “We’re not talking here of raw bamboo for export, but finished products made from bamboo. From roots to tip, you can make soap, medicines, cosmetics, furniture, bricks, clothing, paper, floor tiles, wall panels, drinks, vegetables — even surf boards from bamboo,” said Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz.

Why is there a sudden craze for bamboo these days? “Bamboo is seen as a green product and a renewable resource in the developing world — more and more buyers are taking a closer look at bamboo as raw material,” Cruz added.

The exports of bamboo furniture in the Philippines rose from US$625,000 to US$1.2 million in the mid-80s until the mid-90s. Both bamboo furniture and handicrafts racked up US$438 million from 1991 to 2000.Total exports of bamboo furniture in 2000 were recorded at only US$3.2 million.

There’s more to bamboo than just furniture and food. Its role in the construction field is equally substantial. Hundreds of millions of people live in houses made from bamboo. In Bangladesh, where 73% of the population lives in bamboo houses, bamboo provides pillars, walls, window frames, rafters, room separators, ceilings and roofs. In Costa Rica, building with bamboo withstood earthquake which buildings with other materials were unable to.

Throughout rural Asia it is used for building bridges, from the sophisticated technology of suspension bridges to the simpler pontoon bridges. Bamboo scaffoldings employed on the high rise structures of Tokyo and HongKong.Building with bamboo in Costa Rica withstood earthquake which buildings with other materials were unable to.
Bamboo is also used for musical instruments of all three types: percussion or hammer instruments, wind instruments, and stringed instruments. The Bamboo Organ of Las Pias has pipes made of bamboo culms. In Java, Indonesia, 20 different musical instruments have been fashioned of bamboo.

Capitalizing on this current trend and without much effort and capital needed, bamboo production could be a very promising livelihood opportunity for Filipinos. Some experts claim there is a lot of future in bamboo. Unfortunately, it is not as appreciated as yet in the country.

As trees are fast disappearing in various parts of the world and with the concern of environment growing, timber are getting scarce day by day. This is due to long period of time taken by even softwood to attain maturity. So, a substitute or if that is not possible, an alternative, has to be found. Bamboo is the answer for this.

Bamboos can be extensively grown in a wide range of habitats, from lowland to mountain forests in both dry and humid tropics, even on wastelands, swamps and dry or regularly flooded river banks.

The bamboo business is labor-intensive, especially during the first two years of operation. Studies have shown that labor alone accounts for roughly 90 percent of the total production cost. But the beauty of bamboo growing becomes more obvious after the first two critical growing years.

Bamboo matures in four to five years and growers and farmers can enjoy multiple harvests in the subsequent years. “If the bamboos survive,” says a bamboo grower, “you are assured of money for the next 30 to 50 years.”

Another good thing: the price of bamboo does not suffer from severe fluctuations unlike the prices of pork and chicken. In fact, they are priced depending on the diameter, volume, and distance traveled.

“It is a pity that we have neglected this important crop for so long,” laments Roy C. Alimoane, director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc.

“God can be realized through all paths,” Ramakrishna once pointed out. “All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.”

Written By Henrylito D. Tacio

Source: Sun Star

KORONADAL CITY — A team from North Cotabato flew to Thailand recently in a bid to penetrate the foreign meat market through major Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group.

North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel F. Piñol led the team that left for Bangkok to meet with top officials of Charoen Pokphand, which has interest in agribusiness, retail, and telecommunication industries.

“CP [Charoen Pokhand] is looking for chicken and hog meat suppliers, and we are offering the province as a source for their needs. We do not only have the capability to produce the hogs but even the raw materials needed for feeds which is essential to the production of export quality hog meat,” Piñol said in a statement.

North Cotabato’s intention to foray in the foreign pork market came as Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap ordered the killing of some 6,000 hogs in Bulacan province in Luzon. The hogs were believed to have been infected with the Ebola reston virus. North Cotabato is an estimated 560 miles south of Bulacan.

The country, through Mindanao, was set to have its pilot foreign pork shipment last December to Singapore but stopped after the discovery of the Ebola reston virus in Luzon.

Piñol appeared optimistic on the foreign prospects of the province’s swine industry despite the presence of the Ebola reston virus in the country.

“This is a very big opportunity for us in our effort to continuously provide better income opportunities for our people in the province,” Piñol said, hoping positive results in the meeting with Charoen Pokhand officials.

Also earlier, the agriculture department in Central Mindanao confirmed the outbreak of hog cholera in three North Cotabato towns that have been quarantined to last until late in March.

The invitation to Bangkok came through the Land Bank of the Philippines, which is considering the implementation of an ongoing concept called “Integrated Piggery and Poultry Project for Exports in North Cotabato.”

Source: Sun Star

MANILA, Philippines – Don’t look now, but the once “lowly saluyot” can earn a fortune for an enterprising farmer.

In one regular season (up to seven months), a saluyot grower can earn a net income of P411,349 per hectare, according to a cost and return analysis done by University of the Philippins Los Baños (UPLB) researchers.

To set up a one-hectare saluyot farm, one needs an initial investment of P228,651 to cover labor cost, materials needed, and fixed costs, UPLB researchers Dr. Rodel Maghirang, Ma. Luisa Guevara, and Gloria Rodulfo computed.

In a season, one can harvest 80,000 bundles of saluyot per hectare. At a cost of P8 per bundle, one can gross P640,000.

To promote production of this green leafy vegetable, the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD) and DOST Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP) has published a “Saluyot Production Guide.”

Scientifically named Cochorus olitorius, it is popularly known as saluyot (Ilokos), tugabang (Bisaya), bush okra (English), jute mallow or Jew’s mallow, jute, and nalta.

Named molokheya in Egypt where it known to have originated, it is widely cultivated in the Sub-Sahara wet regions and North Africa’s drier areas.

In 2006, the 692 ha planted to saluyot throughout the Philippines produced 1,949 tons, reported the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (DA-BAS).

Top producers are Ilocos (particularly Pangasinan) (213 ha) and Western Visayas (154 ha). BAS noted, however, that “market gardens around Metro Manila are increasing and are more productive.”

The UPLB researchers said that saluyot can be harvested 30 days after transplanting by cutting the crop at 20-25 centimeters from the ground. The plants are harvested at one to two weeks interval for up to seven months.

The most common outlets of saluyot harvest are local markets. But some commercial uses of the crop have been discovered.

About 15 years ago, saluyot became a “food fad” in Japan after Japanese health buffs found that it was a low-calorie food and rich in Vitamin A and minerals such as iron, calcium, and protein. They used dried saluyot powder as an ingredient in meals and soups.

DOST’s Dr. Lydia Marero once reported: “Saluyot leaves are rich in beta carotene for good eyesight, iron for healthy red blood cells, calcium fro strong bones and teeth, and vitamin C for smooth, clean skin, strong immune cells, and fast wound-healing.”

Actually, powdered dry saluyot had been produced mainly to cater to expatriate Filipinos, particularly Ilocanos, in the United States and Middle East. But it later found a large market in Japan.

Among those who ventured into this income-generating activity a decade ago was the Central Luzon State University (CLSU), which produced powdered saluyot and exported it to Japan.

Written by  Rudy A. Fernandez

Source: Philippine Star

Marginalized prawn farmers in the town of Magallanes, Surigao del Norte got a shot in the arm after shifting to organic fishpond management following repeated attacks by deadly pests identified as translucent bacteria and white spot virus.

Two demonstration prawn farms of the Buag CARP Beneficiaries Cooperative yielded an average of 1.2 tons (1,200 kilos) of matured tiger prawns a hectare and sold at farm-gate prices of P280 per kilo.

These were harvested in the second week of September with the use of probiotics in addition to the usual fishpond feeds, doing away with chemical treatments and costly fertilizer like urea.

When the deadly pests invaded the Surigao prawn farms, harvests plunged from two and a half tons per hectare to a measly 100 to 300 kilos despite the application of lime to correct the acidity of the ponds and urea to fertilize these, said Jimmy Viray, one of the farmers who volunteered his three-hectare fishpond for demonstration purposes.

They used to apply limestone powder and urea fertilizer in those farms to save the afflicted young tiger prawns from dying. But these have stopped being effective. Most of them had to prematurely harvest after only six weeks when the pests took hold.

In dire need for a remedy, Viray gambled on a new organic product called Aqua-Plus, a strain of probiotic bacteria that was only beginning to be commercially distributed by Bio-organic Plus, Philippines Inc., an all-Filipino company based in Cainta, Rizal.

Viray volunteered his farm to demonstrate the efficacy of using AquaPlus. The farm was sprayed with Aqua-Plus without applying any fertilizer of chemical treatment.

Harvest showed a 100-percent survival rate for the 40,000 prawn fries seeded in a two-hectare fishpond.

Each hectare yielded 1.2 tons (1,200 kgs) for the first time since 2002 when the pests first invaded fishponds in Agusan, although the yield was not yet as large as harvests before the deadly viruses marginalized prawn farmers in Magallanes town.

But it brought the Viray farm back to profitability. Viray sold at farmgate price of P280 per kilo his fully grown tiger prawns with an average weight of 30 to 35 grams per piece. With the application of probiotics, he has made a big leap from chemically-dependent prawn growing to organic farming.

Technicians of the manufacturer had made it a policy that in each organically treated farm, chemical fertilizers, disinfectants or pesticides are not to be used together with the probiotics. Those poisons kill the good bacteria used in coaxing the soil or pond water back to health, Rod Mata, Bio-Organic Plus vice president for marking, said.

Witnessing the recovery of the Viray farm, a neighboring cooperative in Magallanes has ordered over 3,000 liters of the liquid natural treating formula for use in the September-October seeding season.

Written By Abe P. Belena

Source: Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – The use of “vermicompost” (compost produced from earthworms) and “vermi tea” (fermented water extract of vermicompost) for crop production can increase crop yield and significantly reduce the application of costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are not environment-friendly, according to Filipino scientists.

Results of studies conducted by Dr. Rafael Guerrero III of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development and Luzviminda Guerrero of the Aquatic Biosystems show that the application of vermicompost at five tons per hectare and 50 percent of the recommended chemical fertilization for upland rice can result in a significantly higher yield than with chemical fertilization alone.

Guerrero said they found that the fruit yield of eggplant was significantly higher with the application of l00 grams of vermicompost and l0 grams (50 percent) of the recommended chemical fertilizers per plant compared to that of plants fertilized with 20 grams (l00 percent) of the recommended chemicals per plant only.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mercedes Umali Garcia, a Filipino microbiologist, claimed that the foliar application of vermi tea on a l00-hectare plantation in Mindanao was effective against the “Shigatoka” fungal disease of organic banana.

While more exhaustive field tests are needed to validate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the commercial application of vermicompost and vermi tea in the country, Guerrero said extensive studies in India – where the agro-climatic conditions are similar with those in the Philippines – have conclusively indicated that the continuous use of vermicompost at five tons per hectare has decreased the use of chemical fertilizers up to 50 percent for crops such as ginger, banana and coconut.

“With such practice, crop yields increased up to l6 percent and farmers’ net incomes were boosted up to 20 percent compared with those of farmers not using vermicompost,” he said.

Moreover, there was a significant decrease in the use of chemicals for plant protection by farmers using vermicompost up to 36 percent, Guerrero said.

“Because vermicompost helps in increasing the water-holding capacity of the soil, savings of 38 percent for irrigation was reported for commercial banana production,” Guerrero said.

Through the government’s “National Vermicompost and Vermimeal Production Program,” there are now l6 regional vermicompost and vermimeal production centers throughout the country that can provide technical and extension services to farmers, Guerrero said.

He said the program helps the farmers lower their cost of production by minimizing the use of chemicals and at the same time reduce environmental pollution by utilizing farm wastes for vermicomposting.

The program is supported by the National Economic and Development Authority and coordinated by the PCAMRD of the Department of Science and Technology.

Written By Helen M. Flores

Source: Philippine Star

Independent mango growers are urged to band together to export their products directly and eliminate unscrupulous traders that created only the thick layer of middlemen in the mango production industry.

Rene Florencio, director of Philippine Mango Industry Foundation Inc. and National Mango Action Team, told Business Bulletin that the country’s export potential has remained untapped because it becomes very expensive before it gets to the targeted destination.

According to Florencio, there are at least 9 channels of distribution before the mangoes could reach their intended market.

“We should eliminate the middle men because unscrupulous traders abound in this industry victimizing the poor mango farmer,” Florencio said.

“Mango farmers should unite to dictate the price and not the middle men,” he said. There are an estimated 2.5 million mango farmers in the country.

Source: Manila Bulletin

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan — Marine fishes usually are aplenty during the onset of summer months.

But before fishermen rush their catch to the wet markets or before housekeepers gut their fish for the dining table, the Bureau of  Fisheries and Aquatic Resources here has an appeal. “We are calling on our fishermen and the consuming public to surrender to BFAR or the LGUs, any tag found in fishes particularly big eye, skipjack, or yellowfin tuna, and other marine fishes, as these are part of scientific studies,” BFAR Region 2 director Jovita Ayson said.

Said tuna species are locally known as “tangi” or “tambakul”.

Ayson said that three multinational fish tagging projects are currently under way, with the country as member participant.

One is the Tuna Tagging project in the Western and Central Pacific spearheaded by the Oceanic Fisheries Program (OFP) under the secretariat of the Pacific Community based in New Caledonia and funded by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

This tagging project and two other similar activities are led in the country by the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute.

According to the OFP, the tuna tagging project will “provide better information on fishery exploitation rates and population sizes in the Western and Central Pacific. Data to be gathered will allow the improvement of regional stock assessment for the three species.”

The tuna tagging project carries $10 reward for each yellow tag, $50 for green tag and $250 for orange tag. The latter two have accompanying devices inserted on the body cavity of the fish (near the abdomen). The tag, on the other hand, is attached to the back of the fish near the second dorsal fin.

Recently, one fisherman identified as Rodrigo Dayaca from Camiguin Island in the municipality of Calayan, Cagayan, was awarded by the fisheries bureau P900 as reward for surrendering a tagged yellow fin tuna caught along the dormant Didicas island-volcano.

This tagged tuna, however, came from a similar project being conducted by the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Fisheries Research Agency, Japan.

Source: Manila Bulletin