Agriculture Business Week

Do you know that the flowers of a certain cactus are edible? In La Union, consumers cook the flowers of cabeza de turko, a spiny cactus that could grow tall. The taller it grows, the more flowers it produces.

La Union residents, especially those in San Fernando City, said they have known as far as they can remember that the flowers of cabeza de turko are edible. They cook it as dinengdeng mixed with ampalaya leaves or fruits and grilled fish. When cooked, the flowers taste like saluyot.

Vendors at the San Fernando City public market sell five flowers for r10 because not so many residents have this plant. According to consumers, unopened flowers taste better than open ones. And so vendors do not sell open cabeza de turko flowers.

For a number of years now that I have been observing the vendors of cabeza de turko flowers, I have learned that it does not take long before the flowers are sold. Most vendors grow this cactus themselves. They told me that they sell the flowers to the city public market for additional income.

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Posted on October 19th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Flower, Food. Comments: None

Beyond fiction, folklores, and fairy tales, many children’s book authors and illustrators grapple with how to present a science-heavy but very common topic that readily appeals to young children.

Rice science and nutrition, for example, are knowledge-intensive subjects that unlike the three “Fs” mentioned above that have been handed down for generations as a unique form of entertainment and cultural heritage, that writing a children’s book is as challenging as writing a script for a sci-fi movie.

Just recently, the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) launched a children’s book titled Popong eats his rice by Chat Garrido-Ocampo, manager of the Community and Employee Relations of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and author of the book Random thoughts on rice, science, technology, etc. (Insights from a non S&T insider).
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Posted on October 16th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Comments: None

With the rising cost of synthetic fertilizers in the market, it is evident that many corn farmers started reducing their use of fertilizers on a per bag basis. For the first time, financers started cutting lending to growers because fertilizers are too expensive to be bundled with hybrid seeds and other farm inputs. And besides, even fertilizer dealers felt the crunch and they themselves have difficulty. Result: prominent pale green cornfields and some significant areas left idle for what used to be a vast lush cornfields.

In reaction, the government introduced newer and cheaper way of helping our corn farmers, seed inoculants and use of organic fertilizers. While it can be of help, educating our farmers on some basics in nutrient management remains integral. It is a known fact that majority of our farmers do not know anything about soil analysis and do not have access to such services. What they know for sure is that all plants need nutrients in the form of fertilizers, however, they are not aware of what 14-14-14 and 46-0-0 tells them. Well, of course they know the names - complete fertilizer and urea, respectively - but whether they know how much and when are these applied is another story.
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Posted on October 12th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Fertilizer. Comments: None

High Production Cost. Inefficient food supply chain. Lack of funding support. For the longest time, food processors and exporters have been hounded by these problems.

And with the flooding of cheap imported goods and the unstable foreign exchange rate, the profitability of the food and export industry has been greatly affected.

But for the members of the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters’ Organization (Philfoodex), the country’s biggest organization of food processors and exporters, these are not stumbling blocks but surmountable challenges. As a proof of their resolve; the group recently staged the 7th Philippine Food Expo at the SM Megamall’s Megatrade Hall with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap as guest of honor and keynote speaker.
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Posted on October 9th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Comments: None

Farmers in Northern Luzon who have been clamoring for a sustainable supply of the high-quality bioorganic fertilizer Durabloom, particularly those in Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Cagayan and Isabela, should be delighted to know that it is now being made in Magsingal, Ilocos Sur. It took a young lawyer from the UP College of Law to be able to get a franchise from the Novatech AgriFood Industries for a manufacturing plant to be established in this town.

Atty. Chris Baterina, son of former Congressman Salacnib Baterina, converted his former swine breeder farm for Durabloom manufacture. Production started towards the end of last June to catch with the demand for the wet season.

One problem of Atty. Baterina, who prefers to be in agriculture than practice law, is the inadequate amount of raw chicken manure that he can source out in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte and, hence, he is forced to buy raw materials from poultry farms in Pangasinan. The cost of transporting the raw chicken manure from Pangasinan to Magsingal, llocos Sur will, of course, cut down his income but he is determined to go on to be able to serve the needs of Northern Luzon farmers.

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Posted on October 2nd, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Durabloom. Comments: None

A reliable certification body, excellent quality product, and market research are the keys to capturing a sizable chunk of the global Halal market.

There is a particular challenge that most food manufacturers have to face in penetrating the amazing and huge Middle East market. This challenge is to meet the the Muslim concept of Ilalal, from which almost all products-from food to cosmetics must adhere to. Halal is an Arabic term meaning “permissible.” It most frequently refers to food that is permissible according to Islamic law. In the Arabic language, it refers to anything that is permissible under Islam. In non-Arabic-speaking countries; the term is most commonly used in the narrower context of just Muslim dietary laws, especially where meat and poultry are concerned, though it can be used for the more general meaning, as well. It is similar to kosher, the Jewish special diet.

Globally there are 1.5 to 1.8 billion Muslims spread out in loo countries. All of them are required by their religion to buy only Halal products. An estimated 70% of all Muslims adhere to the restrictions favoring Halal resulting in a global market worth $580 billion as of 2005. Tapping even a small portion of the market can mean a lot to Filipino food exporters.

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Posted on September 22nd, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Halal. Comments: None

Two packaging experts discuss the latest trends and issues in the local food packaging industry.

It takes only a quick trip to the supermarket to see how far food packaging has grown over the years. Portions of fish and meat are now wrapped in plastic trays and are neatly arranged in freezers. So are fresh fruits. Other fresh produce are blast frozen. Salads and fresh herbs are bagged, some coffee and sugar are in sachets, while juices and other beverages are packed in custom-coated PET bottles. Everything appears attractive, neat, clean, safe and convenient.

A lot of psychology studies go into the packaging and design of food products. Packaging designs serve as the silent salesmen that do the important job of attracting consumers. And since consumers today are more sophisticated, less sedate and bombarded with a lot of communication images and messages, converting visual interest into buying preference becomes a more challenging job to all the people involved in the food packaging industry.

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Posted on September 19th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Food Packaging. Comments: None

Under the stewardship of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Oscar Garin recently announced the full implementation of the National Coconut Program, PCA’s answer to the country’s low coconut output. Last year’s coconut output was recorded at 2.3 million MT while this year’s output is projected at 2.43 million MT. The said program is made up of three major projects namely, soil fertilization, participatory coconut planting and plowable/intercropping.

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Posted on September 18th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Comments: None

There is no quick fix to the situation we are in. Agricultural development is a long gestating process.

Events of the recent weeks had given us some jolting reality checks about domestic food situation, especially on rice supply availability. Whereas, we were lulled into a belief that we can always source rice production shortfall by importing, now we realize that supply is limited and can disappear from the world market, there being no country willing to let go of their rice stock. While it has always been profitable for NFA to import rice, this was not so anymore.

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Posted on September 18th, 2008 under SPOTlight. Tags: Water. Comments: None