AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I got to listen to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Undersecretary for High Value Crops and Rural Credit Evelyn G. Laviña discussed the revised Philippine Coffee Roadmap, which is due to be released late this year. The Roadmap is a collaboration between the...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan There’s a school of thought that’s been going around agriculture circles for some time, and that the industry needs to be repackaged as “sexy” in order to attract practitioners and investors. The most common way I’ve observed this being done is through marketing...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Five agriculture myths that need to die Farming, like politics, is a contentious topic in the Philippines, especially for folks who aren’t exposed to the agriculture industry. It’s very easy to come up with an opinion on a subject when one has no real exposure to it...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I fell in love with agriculture because I like to eat The second most common question I get asked is, “How did you fall in love with agriculture?” My answer is always, “food.” More often than not, this answer shocks people, or at the very least, makes them laugh. I...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I’ve always maintained that owning a farm is the original Filipino dream. Unfortunately, like many dreams, owning a successful farm can be challenging. Aside from the difficulty in acquiring adequate farmland suitable for the crops or livestock one wants to cultivate or...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Agriculture industry. This is the name we call everything that falls under the terms “agriculture,” which, contrary to popular misconception, isn’t just about planting and harvesting. Agriculture work isn’t limited to farming, but that’s for another column....
The first quarter of 2020 was undoubtedly a difficult chapter for many Filipinos. After the eruption of Taal Volcano on January 12, 2020, it was followed by a lockdown almost two months later caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarantine protocols kept the public from leaving their homes,...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Chocolate and bananas are a delicious combination, but did you know that these two crops also pair well together in the field? Cacao has been on the news lately. What isn’t talked about is how many cacao farmers have been commenting that it takes a long time - about four...
In San Pedro, Laguna, Randy Maranan, a gardener and retired executive of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), recently shared about his jackfruit ( Artocarpus heterophyllus ) that weighs heavier than the current record holder at the Guinness World Records. Last July 2021, Randy Maranan, a gardener...
There are important factors that must be taken into account when growing crops. This includes responsible use of fertilizer and resources, prevention of landscape pollution, waste reduction, and protection of wildlife. However, it is the basic requirements that are sometimes overlooked by...
Losing a loved one may take years or even a lifetime of recovery from grief. Marissa “Marz” Ebarle Middleton, 42, a homecare therapist, knows this feeling as she suffered from her baby’s loss seven years ago. Marissa “Marz” Ebarle Middleton, 42, a homecare therapist, with her fur...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan When I’m not writing about agriculture, I’m writing about folk practices, beliefs, and the supernatural. This was because before I became an agriculture editor, I was (and still am) a horror writer whose stories focused on local folkloric beings and practices, a lot of...
