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Archives (2001)
National integrated
RDE agenda and program for vegetable
by Maria Rowena Briones
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April-June
2001
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Vegetable is a high-value agricultural produce.
In 1997 alone, it comprised eight percent of the total agricultural
output of the country although utilizing only five percent
of the total agricultural area. It grows 10.7 percent every
year, in terms of value and two percent in terms of production.
However, its potentials have not been fully optimized.
Export market offers a lot of opportunities
for vegetable growers because we produce our best products
when production of these are low in temperate countries. On
the other hand, vegetable farming is highly dependent on the
prevailing climate making its production erratic. The vegetable
industry in the country merits attention in its RDE to equip
vegetable growers and traders with necessary know-how so they
can become more competitive players in local and global market.
The National Integrated Research Development
and Extension Agenda and Program (NIRDEAP) aims to make the
vegetable industry capable of supplying the needs of the local
and export market through equitable, sustainable, globally
competitive and environment-friendly systems of production,
post production and marketing technologies.
Its agenda aims to
- Provide profitable and sustainable production technologies
to vegetable growers to increase their yield, improve their
production even during off-season and reduce pesticide usage
by 20-50 percent in five years
- Improve the post harvest handling and quality assurance systems
to reduce post harvest losses by 20 percent
- Enhance competitiveness in the world market to increase export
by 20 percent.
These will be achieved through the following strategies:
For profitable and sustainable production technologies, efforts
will be undertaken to:
- Develop varieties that are pest resistant
- Promote integrated pest management on major pests and diseases
- Encourage cultural management of some vegetables for off-season
production
- Develop and encourage farmers to use organic vegetable production
technologies
For improvement of post harvest handling practices:
- Partnership with growers and traders will be forged to
come up with better handling, to packaging and storage practices
- Dissemination of better handling practices of vegetables
For enhancement of competitiveness of the vegetable industry:
- Establish a quality assurance system for the vegetable produce
- Produce multimedia materials to encourage Filipinos to include
vegetables, being major sources of minerals, vitamin, protein
and fibers, in their daily diet
- Develop new and better fresh and processed products for export
- Install market and production database (by commodity and by
region) and information system for a more efficient flow of
data and technologies relevant to programs and the policies
helpful to the vegetable industry.
Priority National R&D Programs
These will focus on the
production system of eggplant, squash, tomato, garlic, onions
and shallots. These include development of pest resistant
and heat tolerant varieties of squash, eggplant, and tomato,
and improvement of seedling production methods of onions and
shallots so that growers can take advantage of the global
market demand for these produce. To reduce use of pesticides
on crucifers, growers will be encouraged to favor integrated
pest management and organic vegetable production.
For the research outputs on the national level to be applied
from regional to the farmer level, part of the agenda is to
insure that regional RDE priorities mirror the national RDE.
In this way, NIRDEAP can produce vegetables for both local
and foreign markets.  More Articles:
Vol. 3 No. 2
April-June 2001
»»
CERDAF approves five addt'l national programs
»» IPB recommends
organic farming for vegetables
»» The
growing Philippine vegetable industry: obstacles and opportunities
»» Growing
vegetables without soil
»» MMSU
recommends off season tomato hybrids
»» Halamanan
sa BPI: Farming the City
»» Dump
that damping-off diseases
»» Grafting
effective in producing off- season tomato
»» 'It's
time you put some spice into your life'
»» A
Commodity Feature Cultivating the Aromatic Garlic
»»
Vegetable gardening at the rooftop?
»» National
Integrated RDE Agenda and Program for Vegetable
»» DA
launches AFP livelihood program
»» The
Gulayan at Bulaklakan Project: creating greener pastures for urban dwellers
[More
2001 Articles]
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