Four years ago, the late farmer-politician Alfredo Marañon, then Governor of Negros Occidental, and provincial agriculturist Japhet Masculino, led me and my team to the Silk Research and Production Center of the OISCA in Bago City where I was briefed on the potentials of Mulberry farming in addressing rural poverty.
I was on my second year as Secretary of Agriculture and true to my advocacy to address rural poverty through agricultural production and capacity building of rural families, I was on an endless search for ways to do it.
During the short visit, the Japanese director of the OISCA Silk Production and Research Center ushered me to the nursery where they grew several varieties of Mulberry whose leaves are fed to the silkworm to produce silk.
I took special interest in the Japanese variety of the Mulberry because of its vigorous growth and wide leaves which I thought would be ideal for forage production for my goats back home.
Gov. Marañon arranged the packing of several cuttings which I planted in my farm in Kidapawan City.
Today, four years after I planted the Japanese Mulberry, I realized the value of that gift from the late Gov. Marañon who passed away last year.
While trying to discover what forage would be ideal for my chicken in the breeding pens to provide them additional protein and stop them from feather pecking, I asked the boys to try the Mulberry leaves.
To my great surprise, the chicken loved the Mulberry leaves which made me decide to take a second look at this forage material and discovered that “Mulberry leaves are very rich in protein (15-35%), minerals [2.42-4.71% calcium (Ca); 0.23-0.97% phosphorus (P)] and metabolizable energy (1130-2240 kcal/kg) .”
What was more surprising was that Mulberry fruit extracts have medical attributes which could address diabetes.
With this information, I have decided to propagate the giant Japanese Mulberry in my farm by planting the cuttings in seedling polybags.
Today, I and the boys planted over 1,000 cuttings in seedling polybags and in one to two months, these would be ready for transplanting in the periphery and vacant spaces of my farm.
#FarmIsTheBestClassroom!
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