I, Farm Boy! Propagating, Perpetuating Meter-Long-Fruit Moringas

In April 2015, a Filipino-American farmer in Coachella Valley, Southern California, Rocky French, showed me his Malunggay (Moringa oleifera) in the middle of the desert which he grew using drip irrigation.

I noticed, however, that the fruits of his Malunggay were almost a meter long, so unlike the native variety that we have in the Philippines which the Ilocanos use for their favorite “Diningdeng.”

French, originally from Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, said the meter-long fruits of his Indian Moringa are in demand in the Asian food and grocery stores like Seafood City where this is a hot item for Filipinos, Cambodians, Vietnamese and Thais.

The leaves, on the other hand, are bought by an American health company which produces Moringa capsules, a favourite among health buffs.

I brought home some seeds and a year later, the Indian Moringa trees indeed gave me the longest “Malunggay” fruits that I ever saw in my entire life.

In the three years that I was in Metro Manila, I neglected my Moringa trees and when I came home to Mindanao to take on a new task as Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority, I saw my trees covered with vines.

I had the 4-year-old trees pruned, watered and fertilized.

This week, I started to harvest cuttings from the remaining trees and planted these in polybags after which I watered these with root growth enhancer.

I expect to harvest hundreds of cuttings which I would plant in the periphery of my farm.

“Malunggay,” or “Kamunggay” in the Visayas, is a natural part of the farming landscape in the Philippines.

In the backyard of a Filipino farming family, there would always be one or two standing “Malunggay” trees which serve as the source of green leaves for chicken soup, especially for nursing mothers.

The “Malunggay” soup is also believed to have medicinal effect on children with high fever and a favourite energising dish for farmers after a hard day’s work.

Just like the Ilocanos, Visayans value their “Malunggay.”

In fact, there is a joke that whenever there is a typhoon in Cebu or Bohol, the first thing that the Cebuanos and Bol-anons would be concerned about would be their “Kamunggay.”

“Bahala matumba ang balay, basta dili lang ang Kamunggay,” so goes the joke. (It is alright for the house to be topped by the wind, but not my Malunggay.)

I will be propagating and perpetuating my Malunggay and it will not be neglected anymore or covered with wild vines.

After all I am a Bisaya who loves “Diningding” just like an Ilocano.

#FarmIsWhereJoyIs!

#FarmingIsMyPassion!

(The first three photos attached here were taken on May 17, 2016, shortly after I was named by President Rody Duterte as his Agriculture Secretary. The last photo shows the cuttings planted in seedling polybags.)