The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) launched 10 new publications featuring indigenous vegetables in the country.
The new publications were unveiled on Thursday, Oct. 21, aimed at increasing Filipinos’ awareness on “katutubong gulay” and promoting consumption of healthy and safe vegetables especially during this time of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) pandemic.
Executive Director DOST-PCAARRD Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora said the virtual activity was part of the Council’s pre-anniversary offering, which showcases the outputs of some of their ongoing and completed projects.
“With the theme, “Harnessing the gains of GALING-PCAARRD towards a more resilient AANR sector,” we aim to inform the general public on significant research and development undertakings, practical technologies, and innovations developed through our partner implementing agencies, in an effort to support resiliency in agriculture, forestry, and natural resources,” he said in a virtual presser on Thursday.
It was Dr. Lorna E. Sister of Institute of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science (ICropS-CAFS) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) that presented the accomplishments of the recently completed project titled, “Documentation of Indigenous Vegetables in the Philippines.”
Sister said the project team produced the following pamphlets on indigenous vegetables. These include “Langka, Kamansi, Rimas, Marang, Chipuho”, “Ubod”, Ubod at Puso ng Saging”, “Labong”, “Alugbati”, “Bulaklak ng Malunggay, Katuray, Kalabasa, Kapas Kapas", "Kakawate” , “Tapilan”, “Weedy Vegetables”, “Amaranths”, and “Vegetables for Nursing Mothers.”
"This project is very special as the idea came from our very own DOST Secretary Fortunato T. Dela Peña as he emphasized the need for baseline information on the indigenous vegetables or ‘katutubong gulay’ in the country. This, with an end-goal of promoting them to our local consumers,” Ebora cited.
Funded by DOST-PCAARRD, the project has documented 145 indigenous vegetables from 20 provinces.
“We wanted to emphasize that these indigenous vegetables can be commonly found around us, waiting to be given attention. They remain largely untapped and underutilized for we do not know much about them. We hope that through this activity, the wonder and appreciation of the Filipinos to indigenous vegetables will be ignited,” Ebora said.
The documentation of indigenous vegetables in the country is under the DOST-PCAARRD’s Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP) for Vegetables.
Ebora said the project aims to increase consumption of healthy and safe vegetables, and is geared toward the revival of R&D initiatives on indigenous vegetables.
The DOST-PCAARRD previously launched pamphlets on the following indigenous vegetables: talinum, lubi-lubi, gabi, himbabao, lagikway, talbos ng kamoteng kahoy, bawang gulay, ampalaya, pako, and lasona gulay.