Agriculture Business Week

In many developing countries, livestock production is a major contributor to gross domestic product. And agroforestry practices that are mainly concerned with the management of trees, forage and livestock is known as Silvopasture.

In silvopasture systems, forage crops are deliberately introduced into a timber production system, or trees are deliberately introduced into a forage production system. The interactions among timber, forage, and livestock are thus managed intensively to simultaneously produce timber, a high quality forage resource and efficient livestock production. Overall, silvopasture can provide economic returns while creating a sustainable system with many environmental benefits. These systems range from traditional silvopastoralism to very high intensity cut and carry fodder systems.

TRADITIONAL GRAZING SYSTEMS
Peace Corps volunteers throughout Central America’s degraded uplands have seen the damaging effect that livestock can have on the land. However, livestock are an essential component of farming through out the Developing World, as they provide labor, fertilizer, transport, and food. Animals are also a major investment for families and have many social implications. Therefore, we should take a closer look at how animals can fit into programs that save and restore degraded lands.

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Have you heard of the spice tarragon?

If not, well it’s actually the aromatic French dragon plant. It has shiny narrow leaves with an aroma similar to licorice with a hint of vanilla.

Tarragon adds a unique flavor and color to food. It blends well with other spices like garlic, chives, onions, and herbs.

In other countries, it is used to flavor soft drinks, and is one of the finest herbs in French cuisine. It is suitable for chicken, beef, chevon, mutton, venison, fish and egg dishes and as a garnish in all kinds of salads. Its leaves can be frozen or preserved in vinegar.

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More than its function and its seemingly new found glitz, what truly makes the bamboo a remarkable plant are its potential contribution to environmental causes, poverty mitigation and disaster risk management

For centuries, the towering bamboo trees have been sprouting in practically every nook and cranny of our archipelago that we have often taken it for granted. Let’s admit it. When was the last time we really looked at a nipa hut made of bamboo with much admiration? We often sit in chairs made of bamboo slats but we never really paid much attention to the beauty of its raw material or the artistry of its craftsmanship. Just like the air we breathe, we often fail to appreciate let alone mull over the significance of the world’s tallest and fastest growing weed. We just know that it’s there.

Things have changed lately. News about the recent banning of forest hardwood in European countries in favor of the environment-friendly Asian tropical bamboo has somehow led bamboo growing countries to see the giant weed in a different light. China, for one has recently started a bamboo revolution, with the government encouraging the massive planting of bamboos in their vast tracks of land. In fact, Anji, China, the site of the world-famous martial arts fight scenes in the 2000 Ang Lee movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” has become an important site for agri-tourism because the whole city is virtually surrounded by magnificent swaying bamboo trees. Chinese bamboo craftsmen have also been getting the attention they deserve because of the growing demand for bamboo flooring, furniture and other bamboo products in the European and American markets. A perfect example of this is the famous Barjas Airport in Madrid, Spain, (which utilized more than 200,000 square meters of bamboo plywood for its flooring and its wavy fire-proof rooftop) designed by Richard Stirk Harbour & Partners which is now considered as a classic architectural wonder.

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Catarman, Northern Samar – Unknown to many, the abaca produced by the small farmers in Northern Samar and Leyte provinces are the best abaca fiber in the world and it has a good market, said a prominent businessman here.

Alex Tan, president of the Philippine Abaca Fiber Exporters Association, said the abaca fibers produced by the small farmers from the remote towns of Northern Samar and Leyte provinces have the best quality of abaca and it is known worldwide as the best abaca in the world.

The Bicol region is second only in terms of abaca production and quality of abaca fiber, Tan said.

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Worms, bugs and other rice pests are an enigma to many farmers as these are threats to rice production.

To most farmers, commercial insecticides and pesticides are the most effective and readily available pest controls. What they don’t realize is that these cost them added expenses not to mention the bad effects of these chemicals to health and environment.

Dr. Alfredo R. Rabena, head of the Research and Development Office of the University of Northern Philippines in Vigan City, Ilocos, has discovered a solution. He found that the leaves of kakawate tree or Mexican Lilac (Glinicidia sepium) contains coumarins, an effective botanopesticide.

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Virginia Tobacco is the variety usually planted by most farmers in the Ilocos and other places in the North. But if you ask Ben Mencias of Villasis, Pangasinan, he would rather plant the native tobacco which does not require flue-curing. His brother Loreto, on the other hand, prefers to plant another type of tobacco from Brazil that only needs air-drying like the native variety.

The Mencias brothers are from Brgy. Barangubong in Villasis. Loreto is a 1984 graduate of agriculture from the Pangasinan State University. He served for a short time as agriculturist in Tayug after graduation but went to Saudi Arabia soon after to work as a landscaping supervisor until 1994.

After his return to his hometown, he did not seek employment anymore. Instead, he decided to become a full-time farmer. At the end of the rainy season, his favorite crop is the native tobacco locally known as “Batek.” He explained that the native tobacco is much easier to grow than Virginia tobacco. For one, he does not have to hurry the harvesting of the leaves. Even if the leaves become over-ripe, it is all right. But not in the case of Virginia tobacco.

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Ferns are important for food, medicine and ornaments. They are, however, threatened by deforestation and over-harvesting in the wild.

Ferns or pteridophytes are primitive plants that are flowerless and seedless. They reproduce by means of spores found in their leaves or fronds. Widely distributed in the temperate and tropical areas of the world from the lowlands to mountain forests, there are about 12,000 kinds (species) of ferns known to man.

There are about Boo kinds of ferns in the Philippines, according to Dr. Victor Amoroso, one of the country’s leading fern specialists and a professor of the Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Musuan, Bukidnon. Of the total, 275 species are endemic (native) and 625 are non-endemic or introduced.

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A 150-percent increase in disease-free abaca plantlets was recorded from tissue culture technique while 114 kilograms of dried fibers per day are produced by a portable stripping machine introduced to abaca farmers.

This was according to a team of researchers led by Dr. Ruben M. Gapasin of the National Abaca Research Center (NARC) as he presented the NARC-developed production and post-harvest technologies during the recently concluded National Conference on Natural Fibers held at Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City. He explained that with tissue culture techniques, or the growing and propagation of plant cells, tissues, and organs on an artificial medium under sterile and controlled environment, 124,518 virus-free abaca plantlets were produced from 500 suckers. Tissue-cultured plantlets are pegged at P4.50 each while plantlets from conventional breeding method sell at P8 to P10 apiece.

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A rubber disease which affected many plantations in Sri Lanka in the mid 1980s has entered the Philippines.

The leaf spot disease is found and documented recently at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) by plant pathologist Dr. Naomi G. Tangonan and researchers Jasmine A. Pecho and Elaine Genivive G. Butardo. It has affected rubber nurseries and plantations in USM, particularly the RRIM 600 rubber, which is known for having high latex yield.

Caused by the fungus Corynespora cassiicola, leaf spot disease symptoms are the yellowing of and occurrence of large lesions that look like railroad track on the leaves. The disease usually occurs during refoliation period. It infects new foliage flushes, killing young branches if the infection is severe.

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Tobacco leaves produced by San Juan, Ilocos Sur Armen are of good quality that even sold at high price, traders and cigarette manufacturing companies vie for these.

But this was not the case in the 1980s. Tobacco leaves in this town back then were inferior compared to the produce of other provinces, remembers Jose Taclas, tobacco production and regulation officer III of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) based in the town.

The reason for it, he furthered, was that farmers here were doing the conventional method in planting tobacco, the town’s main source of revenue.

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Sometime last year, we have discussed the many benefits of planting early in the season. I am sure many of our farmer readers agree on the many positive things being maagap (ever ready) can bring: more soil moisture, less pest pressure, and better yields.

However, with what’s happening with the grain prices nowadays, planting early may not be the best option. In fact, a lot of growers are still contemplating whether to plant or not. Those dependent on financing are surely more apprehensive as another season of low grain price may render them unable to pay back their loans. But still for many of our farmers, corn is the only crop they know how to grow or probably the only crop that can be profitably grown in their farms. If a farmer decides to plant, he should do it early in the season where the chances of better yields are good.

WHY PLANT EARLY?
Planting early is sometimes referred to as the “invisible” farm input. It’s not your typical input purchases like seed, fertilizer or agri-chemicals, but planting ahead can have a profound impact on the profit and loss component of a fanning venture. It is a zero cost strategy of increasing yield as a result of lower pest and disease pressure and a corn growing period subjected to more favorable weather conditions    with optimum temperatures and higher water availability.
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The lowly saluyot will debut on the fashion ramp last December as a premium, earth-friendly fabric.

The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) will unveil the new fabric during a national conference in celebration of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) International Year of Natural Fibers.

“We have weaved 80 percent polyester with 20 percent spinned saluyot fibers to make smooth fabrics; the mix can go as high as 40 percent saluyot that has been treated to make fiber,” says PTRI Director Carlos C. Tomboc. “To make an all-natural blend, saluyot may also be weaved with cotton and is ideal for curtains and drapes, beddings, table runners and linens as well as burlaps for nets, ropes and geotextiles against soil erosion.”

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Researchers at the Philippine Rootcrop Research and Training Center (PhilRootcrops) of the Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay, Leyte have unveiled what could become the next potential biological control for anthracnose in ubi and other plant diseases.

Julie D. Tan, Evelyn B. Taboada, May V. Tampus, Jilly B. Regis and Rodney H. Perez have isolated and tested the endophytic microorganisms found in sweetpotato, which are recognized as source of secondary metabolites useful in biotechnology and agriculture. Initial results have confirmed that these endophytes produce antimicrobial compounds that inhibit the growth of disease-causing microorganisms in plants.

In their study titled “Antimicrobial evaluation and effects of fermentation process conditions of bioactive compounds produced by endophytic Bacillus sp. against some selected food and plant pathogens”, the researchers screened isolates of endophytes from rootcrop-based products and other related fermented food products for their abilities to inhibit the growth of some selected food pathogens. They also determined the effects of fermentation on the productivity and activity of the biocontrol compound.

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Following a successful tie-up with a businessman in the commercialization of bamboo charcoal briquettes, the Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC) of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) has now started to promote its bamboo technologies in the local government level to further boost bamboo production and utilization in Region I.

ILARRDEC director Dr. Stanley Malab said during PCARRD’s 37th anniversary last November that the City of Alaminos in Pangasinan is now advocating the production and utilization of bamboo in its local industries, ranging from food establishments to the tourism sector.

The project is called “Science and Technology Intervention for the Promotion and Commercialization of Engineered Bamboo: Academe, LGU Partnership Model.”

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