MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala seeks to develop “uraro” or arrowroot as a viable substitute for wheat flour to save the country more than $200 million annually.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking into the expanded cultivation of arrowroot and creatively utilize a unique community participation technique to increase the yield of tubers.
“Uraro” thrives in Quezon, Alcala's home province, and DA believes that director Dr. Nicomedes P. Eleazar of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) can help double the average yield of arrowroot from four metric tons per hectare.
BAR is working on a pilot project in Catanauan, Quezon, to achieve this goal.
“Uraro thrives anywhere in the country for as long as there’s enough moisture. With our program to raise farmers’ ‘sense of ownership’ in the project, we’re able to help them realize that agriculture can be a lucrative business,” said Rosemarie Bautista-Olfato, assistant technical manager of the Southern Tagalog Integrated Agricultural Research Center (STIARC), a DA unit.
A major government intervention for increased arrowroot production is the use of organic fertilizer.
Presently, Catanauan’s “uraro” produces only starch, which is marketed as “Catanauan's All-Natural Arrowroot Starch,” but with appropriate improvement in processing, it may eventually produce flour.
STIARC and DA-BAR are also funding the acquisition of milling equipment to improve the quality of starch and flour produced by farmers in two sites in Catanauan, Barangays Matandang Sabang Silangan (MSS) and Matandang Sabang Kanluran (MSK).
“But we want to ask first the stakeholders what equipment they really need,” said Olfato.
This strategy to consult with farmers is a key to the success of the project called Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR), which was also supported by Quezon’s Provincial Agriculture Office and Catanauan’s Municipal Agriculture Office.
Participatory action research is a recognized experimental research method derived from Social Psychology and Group Dynamics model developed by psychologist Kurt Lewin. It is aimed at improving performance quality of a community in an area of concern, agricultural productivity in this case.
“Addressing the felt needs of farmers should be paramount to all development efforts as it encourages sustained people’s participation in government’s programs,” said Eleazar.
The Philippines has long been in a search for food and wheat-based flour substitutes that may help reduce the country’s dependence on food wheat importation.
Among potential alternatives are corn flour, which is used in pan de sal; pigeon pea flour used in noodles and pasta; and squash flour, which is a basic ingredient for the “yellow pan de sal” of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI.)
Data from the US Wheat Associates showed the Philippines imported 2.28 million MT (MMT) of wheat in 2010.
Wheat is used for food and feed, with food accounting for around half of the imported volume.
Olfato said that with a product development program, STIARC can expand “uraro” products to include baby food and starch-based food for adolescents with digestion problems.
“Our product is favored by our customers because of its color, purity, and consistency,” she stressed.
Over the long term, government may also look into “uraro” flour’s use for bread and pastry, for which imported wheat flour is essential.
The “uraro” area in Quezon has already reached 220 hectares and its markets include Bulacan, Tayabas in Quezon, Laguna and Marinduque.
The technology interventions in the program include land preparation as farmers began plowing and harrowing their soil unlike in previous planting where no land preparation was practiced, the use of new planting stocks for every season unlike the use of the same old stock prior to the program and the cutting of top leaves and excess roots before planting.
Farmers were also taught to plant three suckers per hill at 30 centimeter (cm) by 50 cm distance, compared to the disorderly “bugsok-tanim” done previously and trained as well to engage in weeding from two to three times yearly.
In some areas, the practices of Alodia Rey, recognized the “Magsasaka-Siyentista” for uraro of the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS), were introduced to the farmers.
In MSK, yield increased over three times from 4.04 MT per hectare in 2010 to 12.7 MT in 2011.
Growth was also impressive in MSS from 9.59 MT per hectare in 2010 to 20.8 MT.
From planting to starch generation, gross income increased from P45,000 to P101,475 in MSK and from P45,000 to P227,272 in 2011 in MSS.
While MSK’s net income is lower on account of bacterial infection, MSS’s net income rose to P80,982 from only P15,810 after the CPAR project.
Government and other non-government entities are likewise helping farmers in providing for drying facilities and food grade processing facilities.
STIARC, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has committed to give an extractor – an equipment that recovers the starch from the tuber – to Catanauan farmers.
The center will also provide for a hammer mill so that farmers will generate more flour. The Provincial Agriculturist Office of Quezon will also grant a cabinet type-drying facility.
Participatory action research is a recognized experimental research method derived from Social Psychology and Group Dynamics model developed by psychologist Kurt Lewin. It is aimed at improving performance quality of a community in an area of concern, agricultural productivity in this case.