Alyssum murale. Photo by Krzysztof Ziarnek from Wikimedia Commons. There exist on our planet certain plants that can, believe it or not, absorb metals from the earth. Researchers in northern Greece are studying how to take advantage of such plants by harvesting the metals from three shrubs which...
There is not much mainstream fanfare for passion fruits ( Passiflora edulis ) here in the Philippines. The yellow variety the country has is sour and there is not much to eat on the fruit except its seedy pulp. But once upon a time, a booming industry that centered on this fruit thrived in Taysan,...
Photo by Photo Collections from Pexels. Mere rock dust could help save humanity. A study from the UK found that dispersing rock dust on farmlands could capture up to 45% of the carbon dioxide that is required to help the UK achieve its net-zero target by 2050. Rocks are able to absorb carbon...
A basket of freshly harvested passion fruit. (Jerome Sagcal) Passion fruit ( Passiflora edulis ) is usually eaten by scooping out the pulp. The pulp, however, is only a small portion of the fruit, so most of the passion fruit is actually not used. The big remainder of the fruit is its flesh, which...
Photo by Dan Meyers from Unsplash. The global fertilizer shortage has been dealing a massive blow to the world’s food systems. To adapt to these challenging times, farmers have been forced to cut down on fertilizers or buy them at soaring prices. As farmers make do with decreased production yield...
Participants haul their boxes using a trolley. Rising fertilizer costs, fuel price hikes, and rampant smuggling. Ace Estrada, co-founder of Rural Rising, believes that these are the current issues hounding Filipino farmers. To support the struggling agricultural sector, Rural Rising has made it its...
The coconut tree is called “the tree of life” because every part of it can be put to use. However, the coconut as a crop has a complicated history in the Philippines, with coconut being a high value crop while its farmers remain some of the poorest and most marginalized in the industry. A...
Photo by Eleonora Albasi from Unsplash. French legislators, on January 21, 2021, passed a law to safeguard everyday aspects of rural life. This expansive law covers causal farm quirks like the sounds of cowbells and quacks of ducks, down to the smell of cow manure. The law recognizes such features...
Photo by Eleonora Albasi from Unsplash. More countries have been recognizing the potential of bamboo in restoring damaged ecosystems. Among these countries is the Philippines which as part of the country’s enhanced National Greening Program, included bamboo planting as a tool to rehabilitate...
Photo by Mike Petrucci from Unsplash. Who would have thought that growing plants in the soil of the moon was actually possible? Scientists from the University of Florida accomplished this by growing thale cress ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) on lunar soil collected by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin...
Freshly harvested ibuli fruits. (Jerome Sagcal) The tree of ibuli ( Cubilia cubili ) is now a protected tree in the town of Pakil, Laguna after the local government approved an ordinance declaring ibuli as the town’s flagship species for conservation. Local residents often call ibuli Pakil’s...
Agritourism sites are venues where anyone can learn agriculture, participate in farm activities, eat meals made with farm-fresh ingredients, and sometimes stay overnight for training or recreation. What is not known to many folks is the existence of bee tourism (aka apitourism and...
