VEGETABLES: SUB-TEMPERATE VS. INDIGENOUS (1)

This weekend, we were asked our opinion on the prospects of vegetable farming and how profitable it can be for farmers and entrepreneurs and how much investment would be needed if one desires to start up in this line of farming. Our answer was the obvious: it depends on the variables but the bottom line is really the thread by which one will follow. Let me take for an example, the choice of which to eat: sub-temperate or indigenous veggies, meaning, should it be cabbage or pechay against alugbati (basella rubra) or tagabang (Corchorus olitorius L)?

Getting to eat native or indigenous vegetables will depend on one's orientation and exposure. Children exposed at an early age to sipping the broth of tagabang cooked with garlic would seem to take preference to it until their ripe old age. We can write with certainty about this because we had a lifetime of preference to this native vegetable. My mother and my grandmother had a unique way of cooking this wild-crafted veggie. They would simply boil a cup or so of water then throw in first: 4-5 pcs. of garlic, shredded fried fish, squash, cut-up eggplants and a few other vegetables that need to be cooked ahead of the leaves. After one boiling, they would dump both the malunggay (Moringa oleifera) and the tagabang. They would immediately cut off the fire and let the pot stay for about 3 minutes and then they would serve the batch to a waiting brood of six.

If we were made to choose between a serving of cabbage stew against this wild mix of native veggies, myself and our other siblings would still prefer the tagabang-based vegetable stew especially if served with fried gumaa- pinakas. Gumaa is a deep water fish abundant in the Visayan sea which is fleshy and is usually salted and dried. The fermentation and the drying it undergoes somehow activates some amino acids that impart a sweet and tasty flavor, similar to the taste that one gets from fish sauce (patis).

Our mother has also a way of cooking alugbati which she taught us when we were old enough to help in the kitchen and cook. She would first put in a layer of squash, eggplants, red winged beans, tomatoes, pre-cooked ground beef or minced fried fish and onions (no garlic) then top this with 2 inches of cleaned alugbati leaves (No water added because the whole batch will be cooked by the juices coming from the vegetables esp. alugbati) . She would let this mixture boil over low fire until she has estimated that all the veggies on the bottom layer has cooked and turn them over once then let it simmer for about 2 minutes more before finally declaring the mixture cooked.

These two vegetables, alugbati and tagabang, are part of our food fare and we would presume that many other Ilonggos share the same experience. But the local vegetables market seems to have been overran by sub-temperate vegetables especially those coming from Baguio City and Kanlaon (Negros Occ.). Thanks mainly to the various information media where lifestyles of other countries inevitably include food and such vegetables like carrots, lettuce, cabbages, etc are also promoted.

Nutrition wise though, DOST and other health agencies now confirm that malunggay can beat broccoli anytime in terms of nutrition and other health benefits, be it anti-oxidants, mineral content or whatever. This is mainly due to the nature of both vegetables. Malunggay, a deep rooted tree can draw up nutrients from the deep soil strata while crucifers being annuals can just convert soil nutrients within 18 inches from the top soil. Tagabang and alugbati have also a deep rooted system so like the malunggay, their roots can scour deep into the soil to gather nutrients needed for their growth.

As we progress with this comparison between sub-temperate versus indigenous vegetables, we will try to present cost and return analysis as well as other information which will encourage farmers, weekend gardeners and other interest groups to make a choice of what they will grow and maybe, farm business they can engage in. we have been growing them too, both semi-commercially and as a source of table greens. Both can be profitable and preference is the main contention.

BAHAY KUBO

Bahay kubo, the ever popular ditty, probably one of the first songs learned by Filipino children before they reach school age or as soon as they get to school, has gone viral in the internet. Marc Logan, the boisterous TV anchor known for his humorous segments at ABS-CBN featured the many versions uploaded, where most of the children were Caucasians, obviously cared for by Filipino nannies. Collectively, these youtube videos may have registered millions of hits and had elevated the song to international fame, and is sung, hummed or whistled by millions of people, many of them even without a drop of Filipino blood in them.

The Internet is also attributed as the discoverer of Charice and Maria Aragon, the Lady Gaga impersonator and both had become instant celebrities that led to their guestings in various popular TV shows. This propelled both girls to stardom and wealth.

There are many other success stories that were launched via the internet. It is said that the worldwide web has reduced the world to the size of a desk top. Meaning, one need not travel far and wide to spend just to attract sales or in the case of Iloilo City, attract visitors to its “widely acclaimed” Dinagyang Festival. While the officials of the Iloilo City government claim they have sponsors for the New York trip, it is improbable that the city government will not spend a single centavo for this useless junket. Factor in the fares spent on the official travel worth about $1,500.00 each plus of course, the pocket money. This means that the city government may shell out not less than PhP 1M for this event.

Have the bright boys of Mayor Jed Mabilog presented any estimates or projections as to how much is the expected return from this useless exercise? Will the returns be felt in the 2012 Dinagyang event? Will the PhP 1M or so result to say P10M gross revenues from space rentals, event related taxes, etc.? Or are these so-called technical men just plain lazy to make any projection at all? Any economist or business man worth his salt can make simple estimates and projections as to the cost-return analysis of any venture.

Just supposing, the city hall bright boys come up with the idea of borrowing the various footages of Dinagyang from the two major TV stations and make short videos for posting in you tube and also make millions of tags so that it registers front page in all the search engines? It would probably cost only a few thousand pesos of labor by talented students on job hire basis. Meaning, instead of hiring the useless traffic aides who resort to extorting from poor drivers, the city government hires fresh talented IT students and create a viral hit on Dinagyang in the internet. This could definitely create a stir in the internet akin to the Charice and Maria Aragon phenom! Such an effort will not probably be even 10% of the cost of the New York junket!

We have started several blogs on natural farming and rural life way back and until now, we still receive emails asking for more information on such blogs as NO WASH PIGS, No Till Farming, probiotics, etc. We have also started a web site on appropriate tools and equipment like the improved windmill, improved rice hull stoves and other gadgets that can be used in rural communities. We have sold many of these units through the internet and through our articles in the Agriculture Magazine.

We have also initiated the exposure of a cockfighting supplement we have invented which we call the SUPERMAX POINTING CAPSULES through the sabong-oriented web forum: http://sabong.net.ph and this has resulted to its wide acceptance that it is now a profitable sideline for us. (http://supermax2010.webs.com and http://supermaxpointing.multiply.com).

Such use of the internet as a medium for exposure is no longer a phenomenon. It is a fact of life and even a way of life for those in the know. Many have made millions and many nations and even local government units have gained worldwide acclaim by simply using the venue as a tool for exposure. Like the Bahay Kubo, there is another popular folk song that Mayor Mabilog should learn: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE. It ends with the phrase: “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn”.

IT'S ABOUT TIME WE IMPOSE LOAD LIMITS ON OUR ROADS

Governor Arthur D. Defensor initiated a Memorandum of Agreement with the various agencies led by the DPWH where each of the entities involved shall do its part to monitor and steward road users. Governor Defensor had noted that large trucks are now plying all kinds of road networks of the Province, many of them exceeding the load limits imposed. Roads in the province and in the entire island had been designed for intermediate load limits not exceeding 20 metric tons.

However lopsided the MOA according to the information of Atty. Pet Melliza, the Governor acceded to provide for new weighing equipment and personnel to man the weighing stations to be set up in key points of the province. This move by the Governor shows his concern for the sad state of the road networks. He saw the fast deterioration due to the propensity of private business to invest in overly large trucks so that they can move their goods more efficiently, at the expense of our road networks.

Roads are vital to the everyday life and one of the prime movers of the economy. Products are moved faster and cheaper when roads are good and the network is extensive. Local roads complement the national program of the Roll-On Roll-Off ships where big capacity trucks carrying vegetables and other goods from the far north are transported without need for unloading, up to the terminal points, bringing these goods cheaper to the end market or the consumer.

Let us take for an example the Baguio vegetables. Before the RoRo program, sub-temperate vegetables and the daily spice, onions were much more expensive since these products may undergo up to three handling starting at the loading point, Baguio. They usually are trucked to Divisoria first, then shipped via the passenger ships to Iloilo City port. In both places, the traders need to unload and have to pay for unloading and loading labor which often are expensive since the realities of labor intermediaries have to be dealt with.

So if cabbage would cost a mere P15.00/kilogram in Baguio, the lowest price sold to the consumer in Iloilo City would probably be about P40.00. The mark up would be P25.00 which is P10.00 more than the initial price. This time with the RoRo and the much improved road network, cabbage would cost a lot lesser since the market flow would be cut shorter. A trader in Iloilo City can simply negotiate with the vegetable farmer or even the trader in the Bagsakan Market of Baguio City, load up on his 10-wheeler and transport it all the way to Iloilo City crossing the sea twice, first at the Batangas Port then at the Caticlan Port. There will only be two labor components: first at the loading point in Baguio City and at the unloading point in Iloilo City. He could probably save as much as P6.00 per kilogram in labor cost.

Even if vegetables and other agricultural products were just grown locally, good roads are still vital to the economy. Smooth flow of farm products from the hinterlands would end up cheaper at the consuming end when the wear and tear of vehicles as well as fuel expense would be much cheaper. The bad roads of the second district from the mountain farms of Leon and Alimodian to Iloilo City are one reason why sub-temperate vegetables coming from that area costs as much as those coming from Baguio. Farmers from that area are hoping that the roads can be repaired and even improved soonest through inclusion in the national budget or through the congressional development funds.

The initiative of Governor Defensor will definitely have immediate effects. Load limit imposition will surely lengthen the life span of these roads and funds can be aligned to building more new roads when there is lesser allocation for maintenance of the existing roads.

THE NARRA TREE

The act of desecrating the narra tree at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol should not pass without judgment to the culprit or culprits. Be it ignorance of the role of the tree in our national life or just the plain desire to surreptitiously steal it for personal use, the culprits have aroused the anger of many and have given the detractors of Governor Defensor and Dr. Raul Banias an issue to lambast them in the local press. The tree may be able to recover since there are still inner barks that were not totally skinned or removed when the tree was girdled.

Narra, pterocarpus indicus, is found throughout Asia and the Pacific, growing wild or cultured and is sought after for its hardwood which has grains that is most attractive to furniture makers. Its high resistance to termites and borers make it a prized material for homes and buildings. This beauty must be one of the motivations why the tree was defaced. It is said that the tree was planted by the Hon. Governor Rafael “Nono” Palmares in late 1960s. Had the tree grown on a single trunk, it could have been cut generations ago by similarly evil-thinking creatures.

Being a legume belonging to the pea family Narra trees can grow fast merely by encouraging the growth of Nitrogen fixing rhizobium bacteria species. Its deep root system coupled with the secondary roots that encourages the sideways buttress to strengthen the trunks have the ability to take up phosphates that also serve as fertilizers for the bacteria. When these bacteria die off and decompose, the tertiary roots of the narra tree absorb the soluble nutrients in the form of phosphates and nitrates and utilize them for their own metabolism and growth. So even the worst possible soils like built up area of parks and roadsides, one can see healthy narra trees growing.

It was Governor-General Frank Murphy through Proclamation No. 652 s. 1934 who declared narra as the national tree of the Philippines. It is not difficult to see why Murphy did so. After all, he was surrounded by narra furniture and wall panels during his stay at Malacanang. He must have also seen healthy narra trees not only in the palace grounds but along the roads of Manila during his time. Being a hardy tree, narra can withstand strong winds with just its branches being broken or blown off but it has the capacity to grow back because of its fast growing character.

Narra is an excellent shade tree in open spaces and parks due to its wide-spreading branches. However as a tree-farming species or if grown in mixed use areas, narra will not perform as well as other legumes like ipil-ipil and madre de cacao. When planted in high densities, it tends to grow a single trunk but will be multi-trunked when planted in low densities. It grows fast in slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soils and the growth condition of narra can be a measure to gauge the fertility and condition of the soils especially in the eye of a trained agronomist.

While many farmers and agriculturists have focused on the use of ipil-ipil and other tree legumes for their roles in farming systems, little attention had been given to the narra tree. Yet the leaves of narra contain as much nitrogen as other legumes. Once soaked, the dried leaves of narra like other legumes easily decompose and can serve as food for earthworms. However narra is seldom used as fodder for livestock. Goats are the only livestock which attack both the leaves and trunks of the tree.

A mature narra tree can produce thousands of pods in a year and each pod contains one seed which is easily dispersed when mature as they are light and has wing-like flaps that enables it to float for quite a distance when they break off the base. This is one survival mechanism that narra trees possess. Seedlings of narra can be found far from the tree because they have floated and fell on favorable ground to sprout during the wet season. Seeds easily grow when it has been soaked and the hard covering has softened allowing moisture to penetrate the outer seed cover.

The tree that was pruned and girdled at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol had been a source of the already scarce seedling materials. We have seen many people gathering seeds and wildlings when the old capitol was not yet abandoned. And even after the construction of the new generator, we still have seen the narra bear pods which people have collected during summer. Even if it will survive it will take a few years for that narra tree to bear pods again.

MICRO INDUSTRIALIZATION

In the midst of never ending economic crisis, a competent leader's first reaction should be prudence that should result to optimal use of government resources. Simultaneously, he should be thinking of approaches that could stimulate economic activities, not only confined to mega projects where the poor and the unqualifed can not participate but more importantly, micro projects that need soft and appropriate technologies and minimal investments.

Take the case of the emerging industry directions of Iloilo City. There is the hype of several IT companies coming to establish bases and branches. Plans for several thousands of seats of the highly favored Business Process Outsourcing or the BPO industry may soon become realities with MegaWorld and Ayala aggressively fast tracking their hardwares. Leaders claim the readiness of the city to meet the requirements of these companies.

BPO and similar industries are hungry for power and the recently power-sufficient Iloilo City may soon find itself power-deficient in one or two years. Thus there is an urgent need for power franchisee, PECO, to find new sources of power in anticipation of the surge in demand, probably twice the current demand of 85 megawatts.

There is also the emerging demand for attendant services and utilities. These industries would need water probably 50% more than the existing demand of Iloilo City which is met by MIWD at barely 30%, thus the bench mark for water sufficiency should be about 100% of the current supply where the supply agency hopes to meet through its recent PPP strategy.

More importantly, the human resources needed to man these BPO should be ready. This may not pose to be big problem since Iloilo City is the accepted center of education south of Manila. But attendant services needed to accommodate these future employees should be ready. Boarding houses, apartelles, etc. may have to be built and in the case of aging or old houses, converted and improved to meet the housing regulations.

Let us not however forget about those who cannot be employed by these new locators, the barely educated and the unemployed. There needs to be services focused on them, particularly their livelihood or economic activities. At this point, the city's technocrats may think only of vending and small scale trade. But they should think further and think of micro industries, similar to those that propelled Cebu into the industrial center that it is now. Micro processing and manufacturing centered on both food and metal working have created wealth not only for the upscale or the middle level capitalists but also for the small ones.

Take the case of the processed and dried mangoes. Even households process mango and other fruits into preserves that sell not only as pasalubongs but also as common everyday dessert afforded by even the poor households. Basic tools and implements like the bolo, scythes, cane knives, and the cockfighting knife- tari/bulang are made mostly by small craftsmen who employ their relatives and thus provide them with the means to survive and send their children to school and prosper. There is also the vibrant car repair and restoration industry where the majority of the restored units find their way to Iloilo City and elsewhere.

Also notice the second and third generation of industries in Cebu. With the development of highly skilled manpower, many large manufacturing industries including ship building have relocated there. Most important however is the second generation gun- smithing and gun manufacturing activities throughout the island, no longer confined to Danao City. While there is still the many backyard gun makers, the province and city has transposed into a modern gun making island where almost any type of gun can be copied using the best gun metals available in the world and by licensed gun manufacturers employing hundreds of skilled gunsmiths. While some may be illegal and clandestine, the bottom line is that gun manufacturing provides livelihood, economic activity and development.

It is not impossible for Iloilo City to follow the same path. There is already the existence of small scale and micro industries. There is a firecracker industry that provides seasonal employment, albeit dangerous. There is somehow minimal pasalubong manufacturing. But we have the best jeepney body fabrication artisans and shops.

Maybe the present leaders of Iloilo City should think of planned micro industrial development instead of focusing on expense-oriented activities like building a scandalously overpriced city hall. Maybe instead of focusing on services like beauty parlors and barber shops, they should be thinking of metal-crafts, tool and equipment fabrication that is needed in other upstream industries like farming and downstream industries like food processing. It doesn't take a genius to plan and execute all these. All it takes is a single-minded, quick thinking and decisive executive.

BAHAY KUBO

Bahay kubo, the ever popular ditty, probably one of the first songs learned by Filipino children before they reach school age or as soon as they get to school, has gone viral in the internet. Marc Logan, the boisterous TV anchor known for his humorous segments at ABS-CBN featured the many versions uploaded, where most of the children were caucasians, obviously cared for by Filipino nannies. Collectively, these youtube videos may have registered millions of hits and had elevated the song to international fame, and is sung, hummed or whistled by millions of people, many of them even without a drop of Filipino blood in them.

The Internet is also attributed as the discoverer of Charice and Maria Aragon, the Lady Gaga impersonator who both had become instant celebrities that led to their guestings in various popular TV shows. This propelled both girls to stardom and wealth.

There are many other success stories that were launched via the internet. It is said that the worldwide web has reduced the world to the size of a desk top. Meaning, one need not travel far and wide to spend just to attract sales or in the case of Iloilo City, attract visitors to its “widely acclaimed” Dinagyang Festival. While the officials of the Iloilo City government claim they have sponsors for the New York trip, it is improbable that the city government will not spend a single centavo for this useless junket. Factor in the fares spent on the official travel worth about $1,500.00 each plus of course, the pocket money. This means that the city government may shell out not less than PhP 1M for this event.

Have the bright boys of Mayor Jed Mabilog presented any estimates or projections as to how much is the expected return from this useless exercise? Will the returns be felt in the 2012 Dinagyang event? Will the PhP 1M or so result to say P10M gross revenues from space rentals, event related taxes, etc.? Or are these so-called technical men just plain lazy to make any projection at all? Any economist or business man worth his salt can make simple estimates and projections as to the cost-return analysis of any venture.

Just supposing, the city hall bright boys come up with the idea of borrowing the various footages of Dinagyang from the two major TV stations and make short videos for posting in you tube and also make millions of tags so that it registers front page in all the search engines? It would probably cost only a few thousand pesos of labor by talented students on job hire basis. Meaning, instead of hiring the useless traffic aides who resort to extorting from poor drivers, the city government hires fresh talented IT students and create a viral hit on Dinagyang in the internet. This could definitely create a stir in the internet akin to the Charice and Maria Aragon phenom! Such an effort will not probably be even 10% of the cost of the New York junket!

We have started several blogs on natural farming and rural life way back and until now, we still receive emails asking for more information on such blogs as NO WASH PIGS, No Till Farming, probiotics, etc. We have also started a web site on appropriate tools and equipment like the improved windmill, improved rice hull stoves and other gadgets that can be used in rural communities. We have sold many of these units through the internet and through our articles in the Agriculture Magazine.

We have also initiated the exposure of a cockfighting supplement we have invented which we call the SUPERMAX POINTING CAPSULES through the sabong-oriented web forum: http://sabong.net.ph and this has resulted to its wide acceptance that it is now a profitable sideline for us. (http://supermax2010.webs.com and http://supermaxpointing.multiply.com).

Such use of the internet as a medium for exposure is no longer a phenomenon. It is a fact of life and even a way of life for those in the know. Many have made millions and many nations and even local government units have gained worldwide acclaim by simply using the venue as a tool for exposure. Like the Bahay Kubo, there is another popular folk song that Mayor Mabilog should learn: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE. It ends with the phrase: “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn”.