By Manny Piñol
When we were young growing up in the provinces, special gatherings were always celebrated by serving the iconic “Lauya” or KBL which stands for “Kadyos” (Black Beans), “Baboy” (Pork) and “Langka” (Jackfruit).
Yet, “Langka” or “Nangka” (scientific name: Artocarpus heterophyllus) has largely been ignored by Philippine Agriculture and has never been considered as a high-value crop just like Coffee, Cacao, Lanzones and other fruit trees.
While the Department of Agriculture (DA) has campaigned for the planting of fruit trees in the mountainous and sloping agricultural areas of the country for food production and soil erosion prevention, “Langka,” along with “Avocado” and “Sampaloc” (Tamarind), has largely been ignored.
“Langka” or Jackfruit has remained to be the ubiquitous tree that grows in almost all rural areas in the country whose value in addressing malnutrition and rural poverty, not to mention the prevention of soil erosion, has not been fully exploited.
Today, however, there is a growing interest in the lowly “Langka” and the Eastern Visayas Agricultural Research Center, the Visayas State University (VSU), along with the DA in Region 8, specifically Leyte and Southern Leyte, are credited for increasing the awareness on the health and economic benefits of the fruit.
EVIARC, VSU and the Agriculture Department in Region 8 have propagated a “Langka” variety which they variably call “Abuyog Sweet,” named after the town in Leyte where the DA Research Center is located or the “EVIARC Sweet,” after the DA Research Center where it was propagated.
My personal interest in the “Abuyog Sweet” variety was sparked by the reaction of top officials of a multi-national fruit company when I served them a plateful of jackfruit in my farm sometime in 2016.
The Delinana Fruits executive, Nicaraguan Danilo Roman and David Chincilla, asked whether the Filipino farmers could plant more jackfruits because they were convinced that the “Abuyog Sweet,” marked by its firm, succulent and sweet pulpy fruit, could be a new star in the world fruit market.
Encouraged by their positive review of the taste of the “Abuyog Sweet,” I acquired hundreds of seedlings which I planted in my farm in Paco, Kidapawan City.
As my personal advocacy, I am now sharing for free the scions of the first “Abuyog Sweet” jackfruit which I planted in 2016 so that other farmers in the region could use these in grafting into their local seedlings.
Other regional agricultural research centers will also now be required to establish clonal gardens and nurseries for the “Leyte Sweet” variety so the Philippine Jackfruit Industry could take a giant leap forward.
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