On Wednesday, I led the team from the Mindanao Development Authority in a visit to an Ube or Purple Yam Farm in Barangay Batuanon, Lantapan, Bukidnon where several farmers were reported to be cultivating the rare purple tubers.
Purple Yam or Ube (Dioscorea alata) is a pre-historic root crop endemic to the Philippines, Borneo and Papua New Guinea which has been part of the tribal people’s diet and today is used for the production of Ube Jam and Ice Cream.
Just liike many other native crops growing in the wilds in the Philippines, Ube’s potentials as an industry crop has largely been overlooked.
But thanks to the perseverance of a housewife in Lantapan, Bukidnon, the neglected Ube or Puple Yam could give birth to a new industry in Mindanao and a new export commodity.
Housewife Teofila Llausas and her children have propagated Ube for the last 12 years and even when marketing the product proved to be a challenge, they persevered.
A breakthrough for her, however, came when I and Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib identified Ube growing as one of the livelihood activities for a group of tribal families in Kapalong, Davao del Norte.
The so-called “Lost Tribe,” a community of 150 families of Ata-Manobo discovered by the Army’s Long Range Patrol deep in the jungles in the tri-boundaries of Davao del Norte, Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur in February 2019, will be recipients of a program I designed, “Adopt-a-Tribal Family” Program.
Instead of dole-outs, I and Gov. Jubahib agreed that we will help the families start livelihood activities by allowing them to do what they know best and one of this is growing Ube, their staple food in the jungles.
Our problem, however, was where to find a supply of planting materials which prompted me to post an article in my Facebook page and which in turn generated a message from a professor of the Central Mindanao University, Jean Valleser.
Prof. Valleser said her mother has an Ube farm in Lantapan and she has been looking for a market for her produce.
“I have long waited for this moment when I would meet you and seek your help in marketing our Ube,” she told me during a conversation beside her Ube farm on Wednesday.
She said middlemen were dictating the buying price and when we met it was P43 per kilo at farm gate.
I offered her P45 per kilo and we will buy all of her production which I and Gov. Jubahib intend to distribute to the tribal families of his province for a massive Ube production.
Part of our program, however, is the establishment of a modern processing facility which will produce Ube Jam using organic materials like honey and goat’s milk, instead of sugar and the commercial condensed milk.
Soon, Mindanao will be known for a new product and a thriving industry, Ube Jam production, which we will market both here and abroad.
All of these are coming true because of the perseverance and patience of a housewife who did not give up on her Ube farm even when she knew that middlemen and traders were exploiting here.
“I really prayed for this day when I would meet you,” she told me, a statement which deeply touched me.
#TouchGroundFeelThePulse!
#LetsWalkAnExtraKilometer!
#GovernnanceIsCommonSense!
(This video was taken by Mayette Tudlas right beside the farm of housewife-farmer Teofila Llausas on Wednesday, Oct. 14.)
https://fb.watch/aMGwDvMePS/
More Stories
Trump Presidency Boon To Philippine Agriculture
Mindanao Fruit Fest Scheduled Sept. 2025
DA, MinDA, LGU! MinDA Targets Tribal Areas For Highland Rice Farming