REMEMBER the classic retort when somebody tells you to “go home and plant camote (sweet potato)”? Well it’s high time that you, or at least those in the agriculture sector, give this root crop another look.
Because the truth is, sweet potato has a growing demand in the Philippine domestic market for its vital food and industrial uses.
Sweet potato has industrial uses such as a raw material for the production of gluten-free flour and for animal as well as aqua feed. There is in fact a growing demand for sweet potato materials in these areas. The high end market is in need of the gluten-free flour especially those who have celiac disease or those experiencing allergies with gluten.
Such is the potential of sweet potato that it is now the subject of a P25 million budget under the Niche Centers in the Regions for Research and Development (Nicer) to explore improve quality and production of the promising root crop.
This is enough reason for the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to devout a research program to better improve sweet potato production.
Nicer is a component of the DOST Accelerated Research and Development Program for Capacity Building of Research and Development Institutions and Industrial Competitiveness.
To speed up research, the sweet potato research and development center was established at the Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU) in Camiling town under the monitoring of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of DOST (DOST-PCAARRD).
With the P25 million funding from DOST, the sweet potato research and development center is directed towards developing a polyphasic protocol on the production of sweet potato-clean planting material (SP-CPM) to improve quality and production of sweet potato, among other science and technology interventions.
Sharie Lubang of PCAARRD said that sweet potato is an important food source of nutrients such as Vitamins A, C, B6, dietary fiber, folate, copper, manganese and zinc.
It provides the highest edible energy (at 70 kcal) compared with rice (40 kcal), potato (50kcal), yam (47 kcal), wheat (40 kcal), or cassava (27 kcal). Because of these, sweet potato has been considered as one of the healthiest foods, an almost perfect human food.
PCAARRD chose Central Luzon which has one biggest production of sweet potato. Central Luzon ranks second in terms of sweet potato production which accounts for 20.6 percent of the country’s total production. Bicol region leads with 41.21 thousand metric ton production per year or 27.5 percent of the country’s production. Central Luzon too boasts of the most number of feed millers with capacity to process sweet potato dried chips replacing the imported soybean as raw material for feeds.
Also, the provinces of Tarlac, Pampanga, Bataan and Aurora are among the top producers of the crop in region.
Tarlac province, in particular, is the largest commercial producer in the country supplying fresh markets to Metro Manila and to provinces as far as Cebu. It also supplies the dried sweet potato chips requirement of the San Miguel Corporation Inc. (SMCI) for its aqua and animal feed production, though the requirement still has never been satisfied.
The program for sweet potato is led by Dr. Lilibeth B. Laranang of Tarlac State University and is monitored by the DOST- PCAARRD.
The three component projects under the program include the optimization of Sweet potato-Clean Planting Material (SP-CPM) production in Central Luzon led by Dr. Laranang.
The second project is the establishment of spatial information for sweet potato production in Central Luzon being led by Engr. Ermalyn DG. Galo. While the last phase of the project includes developing integrated crop management practices for sweet potato in Central Luzon led by Dr. Yolanda S. Guillermo.
The program was launched last October 2, 2019 at Pampanga State Agriculture University in Magalang, Pampanga and will be implemented for two years starting 2019 to 2021.
The expected outputs of the program include optimized SP-CPM Production in Central Luzon; spatial information on suitability, pests, and climate-risk vulnerability assessment maps; integrated crop management for SP production in Central Luzon and capacitated farmers on sustainable SP and SP-CPM production.