ONE MILLION SEEDLINGS FOR ILOILO

SIMPLY BUSINESS

by LARRY LOCARA

ONE MILLION SEEDLINGS FOR ILOILO

Hon. Governor Arthur Defensor has tasked the Provincial Agriculture Office to produce one million trees for the planting season of 2011. His plan is to plant these in all areas possible in the province. At a density of 1,000 trees per hectare, the one million trees would be able to reforest about 1,000 hectares, good enough to add about 0.23 percent forest cover in the province. However he is hoping that the initiative will also interest municipal governments and private individuals to follow suit. Coupled with the regreening program shall be an effective communications program focused on the business aspects of fruit and industrial tree farms which shall tie down all these initiatives and thus institutionalize tree farming as an industry and business in the province, a step towards sustainable regreening and environmental regeneration.

The one million trees would need a funding of about P5million to produce at a conservative estimate of P5.00 per seedling and if it were produced by the Provincial Agriculture Office in the various nursery sites of the province including the La Granja in La Paz. The mix of trees to be grown should also conform to the environmental and ecological conditions of the different areas of the province. There should also be a bias for local or indigenous trees. In the past, DENR and other enthusiasts had the propensity to introduce exotic species which not only became aggressive and dominated the landscape but also brought in diseases and insect pests that ravaged local species.

We had a short talk with the honorable Governor when he was wedding sponsor of a niece and we brought up the topic of giving the lowly ipil-ipil a second look. Presently people have taken for granted this tree. But in the 1970s, there was much interest in it where massive resources were spent for research and in finding fast growing species as well as specific species for various applications, from feed raw material to timber and firewood in dendro-thermal plants.

We mentioned that we have oberved along the highway a specific strain of ipil-ipil (scientific name: Leucaena leucocephala) that is not only fast growing but produces massive leaves. We said that such a strain should be propagated not only in reforestation areas but in farmlots as well because it will serve main purposes: fresh forage for goats, cattle and pigs, firewood and even timber for house and shed construction. Dried ipil-ipil leaves contain at least 22% crude protein.

Adding ipil-ipil in the reforestation program as an undercrop will also cement the mix of species in any given area. Being fast growing, it produces more biomass than other reforestation species and its high leaf nitrogen content makes it a ready source of organic nitrogen needed by other nitrogen hungry species usually preferred by the reforestation experts. Ipil-ipil regularly sheds its leaves to give way to new growth and the shed leaves become food for soil organisms and microorganisms.

Let us not also forget about indigenous fruits like jackfruit or langka (scientific name: Artocarpus philippensis Lam.). Langka is a not only eaten as a ripe fruit but also a favorite vegetable of Ilonggos where it is the main ingredient for stewed beef (linaga), salad and even the KBL- Kadios/Baboy/Langka which is now a main entree in formal Ilonggo food events. The ripe fruits sold by vendors along the main streets of Iloilo City come from as far Mindanao, which means that we do not produce enough langka for our consumption.

We should also take extra notice of local trees like the balayong, sangunyati, acacia laki, Palawan Cherry, kube and others. These are trees that produce beautiful lumber for paneling, furniture, special uses like rifle butt and pistol grips. No exotic species can equal their hardness and character. While they may be slow growing, they have established their niche in the local ecosystem and many other organisms and animals depend on them for survival and reproduction.

The one million trees program of Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. can easily be achieved. His people can simply divide the target by the number of nurseries and municipalities throughout the province and specific instructions as to the specific species to grow should be given. But the most important aspect is the timely release of funds to immediately mobilize so that the seedlings are ready by the rainy season of 2011.

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LAGUNDI IS TARGET OF BIG PHARMA COMPANIES

Big pharma companies are training their guns on the herbal cough preparations that had been authorized by the Department of Health for mass production. On the forefront is SOLMUX which had hired movie and TV personality VIC SOTTO to literally destroy the market for various brands based on LAGUNDI. It seems that these herbal preparations have eaten a major slice of their market and threatened their revenue bases.

Lagundi has stood the test of time. For centuries now, Filipinos nationwide have used the plant for many purposes, mostly as remedy ranging from cough and other respiratory ailments to birth control. Preparations vary from teas to poultices to powder and capsules. By just typing LAGUNDI on google or yahoo search, one will be provided with a wide array of information that will probably take weeks to digest. And if one were resourceful enough, he would even find technologies on how to process Lagundi into commercial preparations which can become a source of income.

The DOH had spent years and millions to document its efficacy and had finally approved its widespread use. It also approved several Filipino companies to commercially produce and sell these preparations. There are three major forms in the market produced by leading Filipino drug makers, namely tablets, cap-lets and liquid for children. The local market seems to have accepted Lagundi as a cough medicine judging from the brisk over the counter sales.

The popularity of Lagundi must have hurt the manufacturers and distributors of carbocisteine, the leading cough preparation. They are now on aggressive promotions campaign with the tag line of “THE ONE VERSUS DAHON” as if carboceisteine is really effective.

The high financed ad campaign of SOLMUX can hurt the gains of Lagundi and the manufacturers authorized by DOH. Ad campaigns work on the principle of oft repeated statements become accepted as truths and with the frequency by which Solmux appear on TV, lagundi may be in danger of being forgotten.

I started taking lagundi about six years ago when I had a severe cough that was not abated despite more than three weeks on Solmux. I was later given a dose of third generation antibiotics but the couch only subsided to return again after two weeks.

In my frustration, I turned to the tea prepared by the bucketful by my friend Atty Pet Melliza. Hew was freely giving out his tea to anybody interested. The tea preparation contained several herbs and barks, one of which is lagundi. In just three days the severe cough disappeared like magic.

It took almost a year before I was struck by cough again and this time, I took a 5 days dose of lagundi 600mg caplets. Again like the first experience, the cough was cured on the fourth day but I still went on for another day of lagundi dosing. The best thing during this time, I did not feel the side effect of drowsiness when taking lagundi as against Solmux.

Now here comes this Vic Sotto whose tag line is to destroy lagundi and dismiss it as JUST DAHON! This poor idiotic tv personality must be so dumb and just hungry for endorsement money that he does not know the meaning of truth in advertising. The least that he could have done was to order his assistants to do some simple research on the efficacy of lagundi before signing an endorsement contract. Had he done so, he could have refused the offer and instead turned to endorsing lagundi preparations.

I can only hope that this idiot of tv personality named Vic Sotto should wake up and stop his brand of advertising where he puts one product down to improve the image of his endorsed product. What he should have done was to only extol to high heavens the merit of Solmux without putting lagundi down.

Of course many will believe him, after all he has a track record of successful TV and movie career. But this track record should have been honorably upheld. He has no call to put down a poor man's couch remedy.

For the readers, I would like to personally encourage you to take lagundi for cough relief. I had been doing this since eary 2005 and from that time on, I have no use for Solmux and generic carbocisteine anymore!

BLACK, RED AND BROWN RICE, AN EMERGING INDUSTRY IN ILOILO PROVINCE

Honorable Mayor Matt P. Palabrica of Bingawan, Iloilo says he seldom eats out because he does not like the taste of white rice anymore. He first ate black rice when he attended a barangay fiesta a few years ago and was able to get some seeds from the host which he planted in his own farm every season thereafter. He produces more than enough for his family's needs every season and some for sale to friends and seeds for other farmers in his municipality.

“The particular strain that I have is a traditional variety and is soft and flavorful, just like the taste of denorado but totally black that the uninitiated may not like what it looks at first glance but when he has started, he would eat a lot of it”.

“Black rice is also relatively easy to grow and its potential yield is as good as any open pollinated variety. Its one advantage is that birds seem not to be attracted to the fruting stand as the grain color is much different from the modern rice that we are familiar with. We can also use organic methods because of its natural resistance against common rice pests”, said Mayor Palabrica.

“We are serious about the massive propagation of black rice in our small town because of the demand for this as a functional food. More people are now aware of its health benefits and its role in preventing a host of lifestyle diseases like dabetes and heart problems. The black pigmentation of the pericarp of black rice is well documented as a potent anthocianin or flavonoid that plays crucial roles in tumor growth prevention and in strengthening the body's immune system”, he added.

Carmelo Oren, a rice specialist at the Provincial Agriculture Office can only asgree. He has isolated an accession and planted this on a borrowed rice land so that he can disperse the seeds to farmers in his area of coverage which is in Central Iloilo. “My strain is almost similar to that of Mayor Matt”, Oren said. The eating quality is as good and already, Mr. Oren has more than recovered his production cost due to his sales of the rice grain and the seeds that farmers bought from him.

“It is however unfortunate that we don't have rice mills capable of just skinning off the hulls and leaving the whole pericarp intact. Most often, the black rice that I mill for consumption ends up like white rice because the mills cannot adjust their rollers to just break the hulls and leave the whole kernel with the whole skin unpolished. This way we can get the most benefits from the dark pigments of the pericarp”, Oren added. Mobile rice mills also use rubber rollers but their adjustments are for well-milled grains which are normally the output demanded by the consumers. Commercial rice mills also don't have adjustments for the brown rice which needs only its hull removed.

Brown rice is a product coming out of the white varieties but with its pericarp intact thus it looks brown, while black and red rice are specific strains or varieties where their pericarp are either red or deep purple. The deep purple variety is mistaken as black. Both black and red rices are said to be high in antioxidants and are considered the first line of defense against lifestyle diseases such as heart, diabetes and cancer. The anthocyanin contained in these varieties guard against the rapid breakdown of cells when oxygen and other chemicals react with cells during metabolic processes.

“The potential yield of many traditional red and black strains can compare with the new so-called open pollinated 'improved' varieties”, says Oren. “In the 2,000 sq. meters farm that I rented to grow my particular strain, I harvested about 15 cavans despite being water-stressed and having been fertilized with just chicken manure and never been sprayed with pesticides. Mayor Palabrica in Bingawan averages 90 cavans per hectare which translates to a gross of about 270 cavans in the 3.0 hectares that he dedicates for the black rice every first cropping (June to September) of each year”.

“On first glance, this may be considered low productivity but when sold in the market at his dictated price of P80.00 per kilogram of clean rice, Mayor Palabrica easily grosses P180,000 to P190,000 per

hectare.However, being a mayor of his town, he can sell only half of his produce and gets to mill and serve much of his produce not only to his guests but also to his constituents whom he wants to convince to engage in this emerging sunshine industry. Ordinarily, farmers get about 100 cavans from open pollinated varieties and gross about P50,000 per hectare”, says Oren.

Collectively, only about 20 hectares of rice farms are planted to black and red rice, according to Oren. These are mostly for consumption by the farmers and some are fcor sale. “If you will observe, red and black rice are immediately sold when displayed in the local markets because of the growing awareness of their health benefits. In Leganes town, there are ony 3 rice dealers selling red rice and their stocks last only a few days when they display or serve notice that they have red or black rice. The Iloilo SuperMart chain also sell black and red rice but often gets sold out immediately”.

“We have been given marching orders byGovernor Arthur Defensor, Sr. to develop this commodity throughout the province. At this point, we are multiplying the seeds of known high yielding strains for dispersal or outright sale to farmers. The opportunity is in both the rice seeds and in the ready to cook black and red rice products. There is also the potential for healthful snacks made out of these varieties. We plan to expand up to 100 hectares in the next two years and from there, we will be able to supply a bigger market outside of the province and city”, finally said Oren.