Agriculture Business Week

Our national flower’s huge export potential lies in the extraction of its natural oil whose medicinal and therapeutic properties have been attracting foreign buyers.

These days, if you ask the younger generations what the Philippine national flower is, they won’t be able to give the right answer. The reason: they really don’t know the answer.

For the uninformed, the answer is sampaguita which, according to legends, comes from the immortal words of star-crossed lovers. “Sumpa kita,” they told each other. In English, the words mean “I promise you.”

Sampaguita is an evergreen vine or shrub reaching up to one to three meters tall. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, simple, ovate, four to 12 1/2 centimeters long and two to seven-and-a-half centimeters broad. The flowers are produced in clusters of three to 12 together, strongly scented, with a white corolla two to three centimeters diameter with five to nine lobes. The flowers open at night, and close in the morning.

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What would happen to this world if there are no flowers? Simply boring, perhaps meaningless, without color, and seems barren. Think of weddings without roses and chrysanthemum, Christmas without poinsettias, graduations without orchids, and burials without wreaths made of various flowers.

“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into,” noted Henry Beecher. “Earth laughs in flowers,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in Hamatreya. And Emma Goldman declared, “I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape.

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A top marketing expert for ornamental fishes explains how the international export protocols work.

Ferdinand P. Cruz, consultant of the East Asia Seas and Terrestrial Initiative, understands the world ornamental fishes market like the back of his hand. He could casually enumerate fish species, rattle off figures, explain the science behind a fish farming practice and share interesting anecdotes about the international tropical fish market very much like the men who have been in the business for a long time. And he certainly has. A former coordinator of the International Marine Alliance Indonesia Project, this Ateneoeducated fish expert was one of the first live fish exporters in the Philippines to promote net capture of aquarium fish as an alternative to cyanide.

Today, most of Cruz’s time is spent in teaching the members of the Tanauan Ornamental Pisces Growers Multipurpose Cooperative and its partner and consolidator, Yoreca Farms, Inc., to grow tropical ornamental fishes that would pass the very stringent US and European markets. As a consultant working for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), he has created the model set-up for a team that could open the doors for the vast and immense global ornamental fishes market. More than transferring technical knowledge, however, the amiable Cruz says he is also firming up the whole team to do business the professional way.

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Edible landscaping, potted plants and foliage, dried flowers-these are some of the growing trends in the ornamentals world-and more!

Just like the culinary world, the ornamentals universe is undergoing an evolution of sorts. There is fusion-a blending of tastes, sty, es and designs. Innovation is in and strict followers of the purists’ rules of design are starting to dwindle. Hobbyists are on the rise, some of them even earning more than what those erudite ornamental experts do. There is also this innate yearning among practitioners to dig into what’s endemic and indigenous among our plant materials and promote them for popular consumption.

“Those are signs of the times,” enthuses Dr. I,eonido R. Naranja, an acclaimed ornamental expert and Associate Professor of UPLB’s Crop Science Cluster (Formerly the Horticulture Department). “The general rule is, as the living conditions of people go higher, the usage of ornamentals also increases. But from what we have observed, even with the global financial crisis, we’re still seeing an uptrend – in the number of ornamental enthusiasts. It’s quite hard to predict what’s next in this industry.”

We visited Dr. Naranja during the recently concluded garden show and technology fair at the UPLB Social Garden Hall . As part of the organizing team of the yearly flower arrangement and dish garden competition, the amiable professor provided us with wonderful insights on what he thinks are hot emerging trends in the ornamentals world.

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CRFs can be an efficient way of giving nutrients to your plants.

In the ornamental business, the quality of the plant is the topmost priority, which greatly depends on the management of the grower. Each grower has his own technique and style in bringing out the best in their plants. One common factor among these growers is the kind of fertilizer they use. It would be difficult to support and grow most high valued ornamental plants without using fertilizers because fertilizers supply most of the nutrients needed by plants.

Most ornamental growers use inorganic fertilizers in granulated form. This is because with inorganic fertilizers, nutrients are immediately available and with the fast release of nutrients, salt can also be released easily which can build up quickly in the soil or media. With too much salt, the roots or leaves can be damaged due to its burning effect.

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The orchidarium in Baguio is the place to go if you want to see temperate plants at their glory. Although one knows that certain temperate plants we fancy will have difficulty, thriving in the warm lowland, we still cannot resist buying them, hoping they will survive.

How many plants have you bought in Baguio – Gloxinia, Everlasting plant, which did not survive or had stunted growth? Many temperate plants will remain stunted when grown in the lowlands. A simple experiment is to plant a pea seed. It will germinate and produce a few leaves and then eventually die. An apple seed will react similarly.

However, there are many plants you can buy at the Orchidarium that will survive in the lowlands like the Anthurium, Salvia, certain bamboos, kalanchoes, and mums. The large-flowered Cymbidiums will neither do well nor the black bamboo become black in the lowlands.

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The earth is currently inhabited by more than 65 billion people. This planet is also the home of approximately 3,750 species of aroids native to tropical America, tropical Asia, Africa, Mediterranean region and Australia.

Their total quantity cannot be estimated for some of them multiply very fast. Moreso, scientists have manipulated the reproductive organs and even the genes of aroids to develop and then clone new breeds of organisms. Numerous aroids have served humans in many ways since their discovery and cultivation. And now, they are the subject of further researches and exploitations.

But what are aroids? Aroids are flowering plants that belong to the Arum family, known in botany as Araceae. They are characterized by a reproductive structure called an inflorescence, which is made up of a modified leaf or bract called “spathe” and “spadix”, an unbranched spike of a few to many unisexual or bisexual flowers, depending on the genus.

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Two Bicolano couples who are senior citizens are enjoying gardening and making some income profit from it.

Dr. Santos Balderas and his wife, Dr. Paz Balderas, both retired professors of the Camarines Sur State Agricultural College in Pili, have a collection of the latest ornamentals, both foliage and flowering, as well as some decorative fruit trees. With the help of a lady agriculturist, Mia Caceres, the nursery and plant store located a few kilometers from where they live is kept spic and span. Propagation is continuous and so is the selling.

On the other hand, Marcelo Escaro and wife Patria of Naga City, owners of a big mango farm in Calabanga, are also busy tending their spacious garden in Naga where they grow a lot of orchids and other ornamentals. The vanda orchids for cut flowers are particularly floriferous, thanks to regular spraying with foliar fertilizer.

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A seed company that has pioneered in the breeding and production of hybrid vegetable seeds in the Philippines has diversified in a big way into hybrid flowering plants. This is the East-West Seed Company which is the country’s leading producer of hybrid seeds of squash, ampalaya, onion, pepper, tomato, eggplant and other tropical vegetables.

Last December 4, the company launched its seven new lines of flowering ornamentals at its headquarters in San Rafael, Bulacan. Over 200 visitors, some coming from as far as Davao City, attended the launching. The entry into the flower seed business is the idea of Simon Groot, one of the founders of East-West whose family has been in the flower seed business in Holland for six generations. Groot’s Filipino partner is Benito M. Domingo who has long been in the seed business.

The new hybrid flowers consist of seven different kinds, each kind consisting of different colors. The seven are Celosia, Dianthus, Marigold, Pentas, Petunia, Vinca and Zinnia.

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Waling-waling is one of the finest orchid species endemic to the Philippines, desired by orchid growers and breeders alike for its showy and attractive flowers and ability to impart its vigor and floral characteristics to its progeny,” wrote Dr. Helen Valmayor in her book, Orchidiana Philippiniana.

“The flowers are flat, to eight centimeters across; the sepals and petals are obviate, bluish pink, with buff-yellow stain, and dull-crimson reticulations on the lateral sepals; the lip is small and concave, purple-red at base, strongly recurved and brownish purple at apex; with three prominent keels.”

That is how the book, A Pictorial Cyclopedia of Philippine Ornamental Plants, described the exotic waling-waling, known in the science world before as Vanda sanderiana.

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Davao has carved its own comfortable niche in the world of flowers and has earned the distinction as the orchid capital of the Philippines.

Davao is known for its fine beaches, exotic fruits and endangered wildlife species. At the mere mention of the city, the vision of exquisite and varied orchids would immediately come into people’s minds from across the country and around the world.

In fact, Davao has carved its own comfortable niche in the world of flowers and has earned the distinction as the orchid capital of the Philippines. Orchids in the Philippines come in an amazing array of shapes, sizes and colors. Most grow only in old-growth forest, often on branches of huge trees dozens of meters above the forest floor.

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Numerous books and articles about anthuriums have been published but none of those available locally dealt with the classification of species.

Since anthurium became popular as ornamental plants, species being cultivated have been grouped to either foliage-type anthurium or cutflower-type anthurium only. Foliage-type anthuriums have handsome, velvety or shiny leaves with inconspicuous floral structures (inflorescenses) while cutflower-type anthuriums bear beautiful flower or inflorescences and ordinary leaves. With such general classification, it becomes difficult to identify which group do Pearl anthurium and Mickey Mouse anthurium belong.

Recently, there was a sudden surge in demand for planting materials of different species of anthurium. Buyers from other countries, were looking for specimen plants for sale or for propagation. Apparently, these plants will be used for developing new or improved varieties by hybridization.

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First and foremost, I have not yet known any new hoya variety released in the Philippines as a result of artificial pollination done either by ornamental breeders in any research institution or by amateur breeeders. I also haven’t succeeded in developing new hoya hybrids thru artificial breeding.

Unlike in other countries, particularly U.S.A., new hoya hybrids are produced and released every year due to active hoya breeding programs mostly done by amateur breeders. As of January 1, 2006, 13 hybrids were listed with the International Hoya Association (Fraterna Volume 19, Number 1). Michael Miyashiro is one of the famous hoya breeders who developed Hoya Kaimuki by artificially crossing H. archboldiana and H. macgillivrayi. This is just one of the many hoya hybrids he developed.

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What used to be hobby of a housewife who only wished to enjoy the beauty and the relaxing effects blooming flowers has turned out to be a source of livelihood for family.

For Emma Gonzales, 52, of Silang, Cavite, nothing can be more satisfying than to wake up in the morning and be greeted by the colorful Canna flowers that she has been painstakingly cultivating for years now. What’s more, she has discovered that there is more to this easy-to-grow floriferous plant than its colorful, year-round flowers that continue to amaze plant lovers.

Emma’s love affair with Canna, also known as Bandera Espanola started eleven years ago when she first attempted to grow this plant in her frontyard which is along the road. “All I wanted then was to grow ornamental plants simply because I love flowers,” she recalls.
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