Agriculture Business Week

Organic rice farming can be a sustainable and profitable undertaking, especially if farmers will integrate growing fish and vegetables. That’s what Armand and Tere Perez-Saniano are trying to show in their Earthkeepers Learning Farm in Brgy. Lalig, Tiaong, Quezon.

Last October, they put up a 5,000-square meter showcase where they grew organic rice together with their favorite vegetables like tomato, eggplant, hot pepper, taro, soya and okra, as well as fish (tilapia and hito).

The half-hectare lot was divided into five rice paddies, separated by dikes that are about a meter wide. Along the dikes surrounding the rice plants in each paddy, they constructed a canal which was stocked with either tilapia or hito. That’s where they stayed when the rice field water ebbed. But if the water was maintained above the ground, the fish roamed the entire field, in the process feeding on the harmful insects that may have been attacking the rice plants. Their feces also served as fertilizer to the rice plants.

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Are you missing the green goodies that you used to have on your dinner plate because of the low supply and consequent high cost of vegetables, fellow city dweller?

Do as other people are doing – plant your own vegetables at home. But do so in ways that enable you to avoid wasting your time and money. Where and what to plant in are the most important things to consider. If, like most of us, you don’t have space in your backyard for even a small garden plot, flower boxes and pots and other containers have proved indispensable to home planters.

More critical is what to plant in – meaning soil, growing medium or substrate. Home gardening advocates advise us to avoid using soil from garbage dumps and similar sites where soil may be fertile but not sure to be safe and clean. Such soil may harbor harmful microorganisms and contains toxic heavy metals, especially lead. Lead, experts say, is the deadliest and most abundant pollutant in our cities. They also tell us that our busy city streets are so polluted that windblown dust from these thoroughfares transport lead and other heavy metals like mercury, chromium, cadmium, and arsenic to contaminate plants that we eat. That’s why experts also advise us to keep plants away from roadsides.
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Among the many available fertilizers now in the market, liquid seaweed extract belongs to the most beneficial. This is because it is not only a plant food, but it effectively works as a biostimulant and a soil conditioner as well. Yet, many farmers still do not realize it. Although proven valuable as fertilizer, this product is probably the last that most farmers will think of buying when they go to their local Agri-supply store. They do not see the advantage that liquid seaweed fertilizer is not just organic and natural, but that it comes from a sustainable source and its production is done without harming the environment.

In the Philippine market, there are only a handful of registered and proven seaweed extract and most are even imported and thus expensive. VEGEGROW seaweed extract is a proudly Philippine made product that is proven effective yet economical. It is a natural plant food and biostimulant produced from 100% liquid seaweed extracts. It passed through a scientific extraction process that is designed to maximize the derived amount of primary, secondary and trace elements, as well as the naturally occurring plant growth regulators and other beneficial compounds. It is non-fibrous and non-neutralized alkali extracted.

Vegegrow works on a wide variety of crops and is compatible with other inputs. It provides a wide range of beneficial effects that include providing a well-balanced nutrition, improved growth & development of crops, increase resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, soil conditioning and enhanced yield. Vegegrow combines in one unique formulation the essential properties of three (3) seaweed species found in tropical waters namely Euchema cotonii, Euchema spinosum, Sargasum polycystum.  These are the same seaweed species used to produce food supplements, food ingredients and enhancers, cosmetics etc., proving its being safe for environment and humans.

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One laudable project that aims to teach elementary school kids how to plant high-value vegetables, and also to encourage them to eat vegetables, was launched recently by East-West Seed Company in two elementary schools in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

This is the Tanim sa Kinabukasan project which is being undertaken by the company in collaboration with participating schools, local government units and the Synergeia Foundation, a non-governmental organization.

The first two participating schools are the Kaliwanagan Elementary School and Manicla Elementary School in San Jose. At Kaliwanagan where the launching was made, some five hundred people attended, including farmers, government officials, teachers, students and other community residents.

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Typhoons Pepeng and Santi nearly ruined the ampalaya crops of two vegetable farmers in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija. But these resulted in veggie supply shortages, so they were able to sell ampalaya at a higher price.

After the typhoons, said farmers Roberto Gregorio and Jojo Angeles, viajeros bought ampalaya at P70 per kilo. And even if the farmgate price is now down to P45 per kilo, “it is still a very good price.”

Gregorio, 56, planted the Poseidon ampalaya variety through direct seeding in plots covering a 1,000-square meter area in his farm in Barangay Mahipon. And although this is just his second year of planting ampalaya after being perennially frustrated with sitao and tomato, he has grown 720 plants at a planting distance closer than the recommended 75-centimeter-to-100-centimeter spacing.

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Four senior agriculture students at the Visayas State University in Baybay , Leyte are growing high-value vegetables provided by East-West Seed Company on 3,000 square meters allocated by the university so they could earn money for their tuition and other school expenses.

The four are Jonathan Requiso, Rodel Morales of Ormoc City, Noel Gantala of San Francisco, Southern Leyte (all horticulture majors) and Andy Cornell Bornillo, an agronomy major from Bien Unido, Bohol. They are trained by specialists of the seed company on the improved techniques of growing high-yielding yielding hybrid seeds. Dr. Elizabeth Briones of VSU, on the other hand, serves as the coordinator.

The four work as a team so that when one is not busy with his academic work, he attends to the vegetable garden. They themselves prepare the plots for planting. They germinate the seedlings, transplant them and take good care of them so that they will produce a reasonable harvest.

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Tomatoes can be kept field-fresh for three weeks without using cold storage, according to the researchers from the Laguna-based Philippine Horticulture Training and Research Center (PHTRC).

One economical alternative is to use the Evaporative Cooling and Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) Technology which prolongs the storage life of fresh tomatoes under ordinary condition using locally available materials.

Developed by the team of Gloria Masilungan, Dr. Edralina Serrano and Kevin Yap, Evaporative Cooling and MAP Technology utilizes coconut coir dust and polyethylene (PE) plastic packaging and a suitable crate or container for storing tomatoes.

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Here’s an easy do-it-yourself guide to managing your own garden of high-value fruits and vegetables.

Infected plants with only the outer leaves affected may be saved by removing them from the field and harvesting the heads. However, when the entire head is infected, they should be discarded. Bottom rot may also be avoided by regular crop rotation.

Cercospora Leaf Spot. This disease is caused by the fungus Cercospora beticola. Cercospora leaf spot causes lesions on the side of leaves of infected crops. When left unmanaged, the infection spreads throughout the entire plant until it expires.

To control this disease, affected leaves should be removed and burned immediately. Chemical control of this disease may include spraying of zineb, maneb plus zinc sulfate or ziram.

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Potatoes may be known as “poor man’s food” but experts say they are one of nature’s perfect foods.

Dr. Jackie Puhl, an exercise physiologist who once worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee Colorado, and Nancy in Clark, author of The Athlete’s Kitchen, chorused that the disdained potato is one of nature’s perfect foods and that eating this is the excellent way to get your carbohydrates. It releases energy into your body more slowly than the simple sugars. Potatoes have a lot more nutritional value than the others.

Widespread dry malnutrition (maramus) and wet malnutrition (kwashiorkor) infesting the countryside and urban poor areas may just well be prevented from getting worse. Shattering myths that potato is fattening and has little nutritional value, recent studies revealed that the potato is 99.9% fat-free, containing only 110 calories. What’s more, studies point out that a surfeit of potato diet will not create an obese population.

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Sweet Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) belongs to the solanaceous family and can be grown throughout the year. It is a good source of vitamin C and iron and usually served as fresh or cooked with other vegetables, fish and meat. It can also be processed as pickles.

There are several types; green, yellow, orange, violet and brown. Popular varieties are California Wonder and Lamuyo.

Climatic and Soil Requirements

Sweet pepper requires cool weather for best fruit quality. In low elevations, October to December planting is best. In mid and high elevations, it can be grown throughout the year.

Sweet pepper grows well in any type of soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Production is best in sandy loam soil. Its temperature requirement ranges from 25 to 32 degrees Celsius

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Chayote (Sechium edule) is indigenous to Southern Mexico, Central America and is also grown in the West Indies and other warm regions. It is suited to higher elevations in the tropics and is also commonly cultivated in the sub-tropics.

It is a vegetable common to the local markets. The fruits are eaten boiled as a vegetable, as are the large tuberous roots. The young leaves and tender shoots are sometimes eaten as spinach. The tuberous, starchy root is relished by some as a vegetable too. In Mexico, this is boiled and candied, or sliced and fried for table use.

Chayote is oftentimes called the poor man’s vegetable. Candy manufacturers and food processors have found the vegetable as an ideal cheap base for their various products. Pig growers also use it as one of the cheapest food supplements.

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Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilzeck), popularly known in the Philippines as mungo or mungbean in other countries and mainly used as human food. It is one of the cheapest sources of plant protein which contains protein ranging from 22-27%. It is also a good source of minerals such as calcium and sodium. Dried mungbean seeds are high in vitamins A & B while the sprouted mungbean are rich in vitamins B & C.

Uses

• It is a raw material in th major processes namely: mungbean sprout production; sotanghon manufacturing; hopia processing; dishes like soups, porridge, snacks, bread, noodles and ice cream;
• Mungbean starch is extensively used for starch noodles;
• Mungbean protein is used to fortify cereal flour
• Crop residues are used for fodder
• It is also grown for hay, green manure or cover crop

Climatic Requirement

Mungbean is drought-tolerant and requires a warm climate during its growing period. The temperature and humidity prevailing in the region is suited for optimum yields.

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Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea botrytis)

The name for cauliflower comes from the Latin caulis, which means “stalk,” and floris, for “flower.” Since the term “kale” is also related to caulis, the name could also be translated as kale flower or cabbage flower. The name is a nod to the fact that cauliflower is an unusual plant in a family which is cultivated for edible greens, not flowers. The plant is of Mediterranean origin, and tends to prefer cool, moist climates. It is cooked, steamed, stir fried or pickled.

Climatic and Soil Requirements

Cauliflower requires an average moisture of 15-35 mm/week and is sensitive during early seedling or just after planting and during curd development.

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A member of the Philippine Inventors’ Society tells us why we should start drinking bignay tea.

In a recent study aptly titled “Antioxidant Potential and Components of Philippine Vegetables and Fruits” which was supported by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), bignay, kaluinpit and ubi were found to be high in antioxidants after it was subjected, along with other 15 fruits and vegetables, in a research designed to determine which of them had the most antioxidant capability.

Those 15 fruits and vegetables included: eggplant, patola, tiesa, mangosteen, durian, kalumpit, alugbati, ampalaya, bago, sayote, malunggay, bignay , squash, saluyot, sitaw and ubi.

Various steps in the research process, like the preparation of crude antioxidants extracts, screening of antioxidants, and partial separation of antioxidant components, were conducted to find out which among these fruits and vegetables have the highest potentials for producing antioxidants.

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