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Mongo Industry in the Philippines

VICE MAYOR ROBERTO C. AGCAOILI is the Vice Mayor and three-time mayor of San Mateo municipality of Isabela. Under his leadership, it has garnered awards in agricultural development, solid waste management and governance. The Galing Pook Award of 2007 for “Munggo: The Black Gold of San Mateo” is a proof of his administration’s thrust of addressing malnutrition problems, alleviating poverty, developing agriculture and creates additional jobs that provide additional income for the farmers.

Monggo (Vigna radiata) also known as mung bean can provide a lot of benefits to health, the environment and socioeconomics. In its 2012 issue, Readers’ Digest cited it as one of the five (5) foods that can save the world. Being rich in protein, it is called the “poor man’s meat”. The nitrogen fixing bacteria in its roots can help restore the fertility of the soil thus it is great as rotational crop. Because it has a lot of uses, it is very marketable and demands high price so it can give the farmers a sustainable livelihood.

With the objective of restoring the fertility of the soil which was once depleted due to the mono-cropping practice, the local government of San Mateo, Isabela under the leadership of Mayor Agcaoili has introduced modified cropping pattern and used munggo as rotational crop. To encourage the farmers to plant, they implemented the “plant now, pay later” scheme in which the LGU allocated 20 kilos of munggo seeds to farmers which is payable also with munggo after their harvest.

As a result, 7000 hectares of farmland is now devoted to munggo. Three hundred fifteen thousand (315,000) employment for harvesters have been generated with an income of Php P91,462,000.00 at PhP 290.00 per harvester. Return of investment is
reported to be 132.66%. Its success has earned them the title “The Munggo Capital of the Philippines” as declared by the Department of Agriculture through Administrative Order No 23, Series of 2011 and the “Galing Pook Award” in 2007. To celebrate their success and to showcase the different products derived from it, “Balatong Festival” is being held annually. ‘Balatong” is an Ilocano term for munggo.

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May Bigas Na! May Ulam Na! May Ganansya Na! Maka Kalikasan Pa! Enhancing Organic Rice and Duck Industry though Integrated Rice Duck Farming System (IRDFS)

Integrated Rice-Duck Farming System (IRDFS) is a method of growing rice and ducks together in an irrigated field. It benefits organic rice production in several ways. The movement of the ducks in the rice field helps it to produce more grains. The duck manure can be used as fertilizer eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers. Ducks serve as natural pest control; they eat harmful insects and weeds like the golden snail. The meat and egg from ducks enhances the country’s food security; it can be a source of additional income for farmers.

The IRDFS reduces production cost by as much as 30 percent. It also impacts health and the environment. According to studies, ducks in rice fields reduces greenhouse gas emissions from methane as it eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, and herbicides. Furthermore, ducks eat schisto-carrying snails that bring schistosomiasis, a disease affecting farmers and their families that occur in select areas of the country.

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Running an Organic Restaurant

The Coconut House is not just an organic restaurant but a social enterprise managed by the Philippine Coconut Society whose advocacy is for the welfare of the coconut farmers through the development and production of different healthy products that can be derived from coconuts. Being a social enterprise, the restaurant is not profit- oriented but is more on empowering the farmers by maximizing their gains. As a means of promoting the products, Coconut House Restaurant, located at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, serves 1001 traditional and old recipes of coconut cuisine. There are health benefits that one can get from the different coconut foodstuffs aside from the ecological value of coconut farming.

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Contact Growing: The Promise of Cocoa

The great demand for organically grown and processed cacao provides opportunities for cacao farmers, processors and traders. Their organization is helping capacitate the farmers by providing them support and training on organic cacao farming and processing. Aside from the health benefits that can be derived from cacao products, there are ecological gains from organic cacao farming.