The Philippines is blessed with a vast number of endemic and indigenous species. It is, in fact, identified as one of the 17 mega-diverse countries on Earth. To be included on that list, a country must have a rich marine ecosystem and at least 5,000 of the world's flora as endemic species....
It typically takes a long process before fruits and vegetables reach the grocery store shelves. Crops are at a high risk of being exposed to dirt and bacteria when transferred from farms to markets and displayed publicly for sale. As a result, consumers have made it a habit to wash fruits and...
Fruits and veggies are, without a doubt, beneficial to the body. Despite having known this for a long time, the Philippines is one of the countries with low levels of fruit and vegetable intake per capita in Southeast Asia. Filipinos consume an average of 343 grams of fruits and vegetables...
As 145 indigenous vegetables have been rediscovered, an expert from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has expressed concern that some of these plants have slowly been disappearing, citing the use of plant-killing herbicides as among the reasons. Lima bean (Screengrab from...
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. DOST-PCAARRD unveils on Oct. 21,2021, 10 new publications on...
Not many people are fans of Brassica vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Even mainstream media portrays how children and adults alike cringe at the thought of having to eat these vegetables. Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels But what makes them dislike Brassicas? Researchers...
Rizal 2nd District Rep. Fidel Nograles on Thursday, Oct. 4 urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to go all out in helping farmers who have to absorb the double whammy of twin floods - typhoon Maring and unabated smuggling of vegetables from China. Flooding Nograles said local farmers are in dire...
Farmers claimed they have been competing against smuggled agricultural produce from China and other countries for many years now, although the surge in smuggled vegetables was only highlighted recently. “Whether these smuggled carrots entered the country via technical smuggling at ports or open...
Cheap imported carrots and other vegetables believed to be coming from China have started to cause problems among local farmers. This prompted Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) to urge the House of Representatives to probe the worsening smuggling of temperate or salad vegetables in the...
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many people got displaced from their jobs because they needed to follow safety protocols to keep the virus from spreading rapidly among the public. Photo from France 24 Among the many displaced workers were those who worked in transportation. One taxi...
One clear sign that we look for when buying vegetables is a vibrant green shade that lets us measure its freshness. But that telltale sign isn’t always what it seems. There are some instances when vendors add synthetic colors like malachite green and a wax coating to make vegetables appear...
Many gardeners tend to focus on the growing stage of their crops, but paying attention to them during the harvesting stage can also make a large impact on both the flavor and nutrition of the produce. Here are some tips on how to do it. Once harvested, crops have very few adaptive abilities...
