Surigao City — The Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Caraga region has adopted the lowly malunggay as the chief vegetable crop for its “one-house, one-vegetable” program as the government steps up efforts to fight hunger and poverty and the widespread malnutrition in the region.

Under the program dubbed “Utanon Kada Balay,” the DA in the Caraga region aims to provide every household with vegetable seedlings or planting materials to come up with their own small backyard vegetable garden for their personal consumption, as well as feed for their animals such as goats, pigs, chickens or ducks.

Malunggay, a backyard, easy-to-grow vegetable tree, doesn’t require fertilizer. Its planting material in the form of seeds and stem cuttings come cheap, if not for free.

“We are eyeing to distribute 300,000 malunggay seedlings to 100,000 families before the end of the year to help mitigate hunger, fight poverty and solve the growing problem of malnutrition in the region,” DA Caraga Regional Director Ricardo Regis said.

So far, Regis said the DA office has distributed a total of 53,500 malunggay seedlings to a total of 18,680 families, or three seedlings for every family throughout Caraga, which covers the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte.

According to Regis, malunggay, or moringa, a nutritious vegetable tree often ignored by the people, will help boost government efforts to fight hunger and poverty, as well as chronic malnutrition suffered by millions of Filipinos, especially women and children.

Caraga, an impoverished region of Mindanao, is considered a priority area because of the high incidence of hunger, as well as malnutrition among pregnant women and children.

He said the tree, which has many uses, can also spur economic activities in the provinces through farming for natural ingredients, which is being aggressively promoted by the DA Biotechnology Program Office (BPO) headed by director Alicia Ilaga, in partnership with the private sector.

Secura International Inc., a local biotechnology company, is offering contract growing of malunggay for the supply of malunggay seeds. Malunggay seed, through biotechnology, can produce “healthy oil” like the precious olive oil, only cheaper like the regular coconut oil.

griculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who was guest speaker during the 13th Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference hosted by the Diocese of Surigao from October 22 to 26, led the symbolic distribution of vegetable seeds, including malunggay seedlings, at the St. Paul University gymnasium in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, on Friday.

The event coincided with the Mindanao Launch of the DA and Social Action Network Joint Program on Sustainable Agriculture in Surigao City wherein Yap turned over farm equipment, including two shredder machines, decorticating machines and shallow tube well.

The joint undertaking aims to promote organic farming to reduce expenses with the use of expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Yap, speaking before some 500 conference participants, cited the DA’s Malunggay Agri-Biotechnology Program as the model of the research, development and extension component of its ongoing program.
“If the coconut is the tree of life, the malunggay is the miracle plant,” he said.

Yap said malunggay has many agri-business potentials which can help fight hunger and poverty and increase farmers’ income as well.
Powdered malunggay can be used to fortify noodles, soup or bread with vitamins and minerals of the nutritious vegetable, while its seeds, which can produce all-purpose oil, can be used by industries for products like soap, shampoo, lotion and other personal health-care products.
It can also be an alternative source of biofuel. The leaf and cake of the malunggay fruit or sepal can also be used as animal feedstock for goats, pigs, cattle, chickens and ducks.