Sino Ang Tunay na Bariw

The Success Story of MS Marbelyn Narso, Bariw Processor

By Sally R. Villasis

Representative

Regional Applied Communications Group

Aklan State University

Photos by Sally Villasis and Niño Manaog

Marbelyn Narzo must have been destined to be a bariw processor.

At the age of 12, this native of Buenavista, Nabas, Aklan was introduced to weaving bariw (or pandan palm and buri palm) into sellable products and has since been in the business for the last 33 years. Even though those early days were hard, Narzo now looks back to the experience with pride and gratitude.

Currently the Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) of Nabas FITS Center, Narzo considers bariw processing a decent job. Having been exposed to the industry of bariw processing at a young age, MS Narzo has mastered the processing of bariw products. From bariw, Narzo makes hats, mats, placemats, wall décor, flower vases and tissue folders, among other novelty products.

Nabas FITS Center is monitored by Aklan State University, (ASU), its partner member agency (PMA) under the auspices of the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC).

In various instances, she also acted as trainer for other bariw processors in her town of Nabas and the neighboring town of Ibajay in Aklan. In recent years, she also reached Bohol as resource speaker where she shared her expertise to other processors.

For her raw materials, MS Narzo uses green bariw leaves. She removes the thorns and midrib of the leaves, a process locally known as pagriras. Then she hangs the leaves to air dry for about two to three days and exposes them to sunlight for one to two days. Locally, these steps are called paglamayo ag pagbuead.

After which, Narzo has the dry leaves softened thru pagpaepag (pressing). She then rolls and strips them using a stripper. The size of koehad (strip), Akeanon for sliced strips, depends on its use. Only then are the bariw leaves ready for weaving. One bundle usually consists of 32 pieces of green bariw leaves.

Hats. MS Narzo finishes two hats in a day, spending 8 working hours. A hat which costs P25 is made in 4 hours giving her an income of P50 daily. The bariw weaver says she earns P25 per bundle of bariw leaves less P5 for materials and P20 for labor. With average of two hats made per day, she can produce 40 hats for one month.

Bags. MS Narzo can weave one bag measuring 4” x 15” x 12” out of two bundles of bariw, and sells them at P150 each. When expenses are deducted, P10 for materials and P20 for labor, she earns P120 for one bag. She can make one bag per day or 24 bags per month, which earns for her some P3,360 per month. In making bags, MS Narzo is assisted by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) in the designs.

Coin Purses. MS Narzo makes four coin purses out of one bundle of bariw leaves. She sells them at P20 market price, or P80 for four pieces per day. After deducting P5 for raw materials and P20 labor, Narzo earns P55. MS Narzo says she can turn out 4 coin purses in one day or a total of 96 pieces per month.

Placemats. From a bundle of bariw leaves, MS Narzo produces four placemats which she sells at P25 each. After deducting P5 for raw materials and P20 labor, she earns P75 daily from these products. Working for 20 production days, she produces 80 placemats a month.

Now, things are looking up, working in favor of this diligent weaver. Currently market is good for processed bariw leaves in Boracay and Kalibo and even overseas. For Boracay alone, MS Narzo delivers a total of 60 bags, 30 hats and 24 coin purses on a weekly or twice a week basis. These and other opportunities make MS Narzo smile. She says her success can be credited to her experience.

Having been in the bariw industry for more than three decades, she has seen the highs and lows of their local economy. But MS Narzo expresses optimism. For her, every Filipino has the skill he or she can use to achieve. “It all depends on how badly you want to excel,” she says.

MS Narzo enjoys spreading the word on bariw processing because she believes it’s real livelihood through which household women at home can earn a living and take care of the family at the same time.

Escalante City farmers urged to raise cantaloupe melons for profit

By Isaac Abello

Staff

“Pagpalambo sa yuta; pagkaon sa katawhan; mao’y una sa tanan (Improve the soil and provide food for the people, above all else).”

This was the theme of the Science and Technology-based Farm (STBF) Field Day led by the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Escalante City on Oct. 4, 2011 in Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

Gathering some 80 participants composed of farmers groups, line agencies and other sectors, the farmers’ day showcased the results of the technologies involved in offseason cantaloupe melon farming.

Dr. Denesa Lamique, Techno Gabay Team leader from the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC), the FITS’ partner member agency, briefed the guests on the STBF project, which is funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) and channeled through the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC).

The event was backed by FITS Manager Ferdinand Alico and his staff and the local government of Escalante City.

As per the STBF project, some 15 Escalante City farmers were trained on off-season cantaloupe melon farming from June to September 2011. No less than Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Jose Vicente Alemany of Escalante City FITS Center provided the technical inputs for the farmers.

During the program, MS Alemany shared his best practices through what he calls the 3 Ps, namely—Practice, Productivity and Profit. For Alemany, good farming practices result in good productivity which rakes in high profit. Alemany also shared the advantages of off-season farming.

According to the farmer scientist, because the supply of cantaloupe during rainy season is low, farmers can demand a higher price. This way, cantaloupe farming can also serve an alternative faming product for the farmers of Escalante. Alemany urged the farmers that they closely monitor prices in the market so they could anticipate the competition involved in marketing their produce.

Leon FITS Center hosts WVSU TG cross-visitors

By Van Kristine Mendoza

Representative

Regional Applied Communications Group

West Visayas State University

The Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center based in Leon, Iloilo recently hosted some 25 representatives of the Techno Gabay (TG) Team from the West Visayas State University (WVSU) at the Leon FITS Center Hall in Poblacion, Leon, Iloilo. The visiting team consisted of managers and staff of WVSU’s member FITS Centers, their Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) and representatives from the WVSU, their partner member agency.

“We may be a new FITS Center but we are working hard to build our image,” Municipal Agriculturist Magdalena Capilastique said in her speech.

For his part, Leon Mayor Rolito Cajilig said that the changing climate and the environmental crises pose threats to the farmers, the town’s major sector. According to Cajilig, Leon is an agricultural highland. Only ten percent of its 14,000 hectares is flat. Farming is Leon’s primary livelihood. Of the 85 barangays, 68 are prone to floods, landslide and calamities. “We have no choice but fight poverty,” Cajilig said. Because the town draws income from farming, Mayor Rolito Cajilig supports efforts related to it.

The local government of Leon has also been promoting Bucari, a forested area 24 kilometers from the poblacion which can serve as an eco- or agri-tourism site. Leon has also been marketing organic vegetables and its “super mangoes.” According Leon FITS Center Manager Feljean Cagape, their produce are called super mangoes because they are much sweeter than any mangoes in Panay.

Leon mangoes are found to have higher fructose content than the Guimaras mangoes. Their sweet taste is attributed to the town’s soil condition and topography. Cagape said that Leon’s soil salinity is much lower than that of Guimaras.

As part of the One Town, One Product (OTOP) program of Leon, mangoes are promoted by local government in their own community. Couples asking to be married by the mayor are asked to bring a mango seedling to the ceremony. All coupled wed by the local government are required to plant the mangoes and cultivate them in their households.

At the end of the welcome program, the cross-visitors were hosted to a vegetable greenhouse located in the municipality.

A DAY IN THE FARM (see above photo). The WVSU Techno Gabay team visits a vegetable farm in their first Cross-Visit to the Leon FITS Center in Leon, Iloilo. As part of the WESVARRDEC culture, study tours such as this serve not only as avenues for information and knowledge sharing but also monitoring mechanism for the consortium.

WESVARRDEC starts sustainable darag chicken production program

By Isaac Abello

Staff, Regional Applied Communications Group (RACG)

With Reports from Niño Manaog and Bede Ozaraga, Capiz State University

Research in the darag native chicken is now official.

Recently, the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC), under the auspices of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) launched the Development of Sustainable Production System for the Darag Native Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Western Visayas, a pioneering project that involves the Research and Development arms of four state colleges and universities in the region—West Visayas State University (WVSU), Central Philippine University (CPU), Aklan State University (ASU), and Capiz State University (CapSU).

In an inception meeting held at the Residence Hotel in Iloilo City in August 2011, Dr. Synan Baguio, supervising science research specialist and Dr. Edwin Villar, livestock research division director, both of PCARRD presented to the SUC representatives the terms and conditions of the funded project and the responsibilities of the collaborating agencies. The PCARRD officials likewise briefed the SUCs on the schedule of monitoring and evaluation and the delivery of outputs from the project.

The program will be a collaborative effort of said four SUCs. WVSU will develop a native chicken breeding and hatchery management system that would ensure stable supply of both breeder and slaughter native chickens of predictable performance and consistent quality in commercial quantities.

CPU will develop and establish a feed production and distribution system for free-range native chickens while ASU will establish a Newcastle Disease vaccine production and distribution systems for the same purpose. For its part, CapSU will produce and distribute a stable supply of ethno-botanical antihelmintics and develop a range area (pasture) enhancement protocol for the darag native chickens.

In the same event, WVSU’s Dr. Evelyn Tomambo, who is also the program leader, presented the new program titled “Development of Sustainable Darag Native Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) Production System as Climate Change Adaptation Option for the Poultry Industry in Western Visayas.”

Among others, the program will organize information and component technologies generated thru previous research and development into a sustainable enterprise-type native chicken production system. It seeks to usher in productive and profitable utilization of locally available feed, medicinal plants and chicken genetic resources.

According to the program, an organized native chicken production system will help establish sustainable native chicken-based enterprises by rural dwellers and ensure stable supply of good quality native chicken products that meet quality and quantity requirements of institutional buyers and domestic consumers.

Promoted by WESVARRDEC Director Joseph Edward Idemne, the program is supported by ASU President Danilo Abayon, CPU President Teodoro Robles, WVSU President Pablo Subong, Jr., and CapSU President Editha Magallanes as represented by Dr. Geronimo Gregorio, WESVARRDEC’S regional research development group coordinator, and CapSU’s vice-president for research and extension.

Dao FITS Center, LGU celebrate farmers’ bountiful harvest

By Niño Manaog

University Extension Associate

Capiz State University

On September 16, 2011, all roads lead to the municipality of Dao, Capiz for its first ever Farmers’ Day Celebration and Agri-Trade Fair.

The celebration of the farmers’ bountiful harvest was led by Dao’s government particularly its Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center in partnership with the Western Visayas Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESVARRDEC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Under the proactive leadership of Dao Mayor Joselito Escutin, and through the dynamic efforts of the Dao FITS Center led by Manager Ma. Susan Dordas in coordination with WESVARRDEC, the farmers’ event showcased the best agricultural practices of the municipality.

Anchored on the theme “Likasaka para sa Aning Masagana,” the first farmer day celebration showcased the best agricultural yields of the town of Dao, and featured no less than Magsasaka Siyentista (MS) Ramon Peñalosa, Jr. of Negros Occidental for its resource person. Peñalosa graced the occasion by sharing with the Dao farmers and constituents his expertise and experiences in organic rice farming and livestock-raising.

And to showcase the best yield of the province, Dao FITS Center led the selection of best gardens under the Food Always in the Home (FAITH) program across the municipality. Promoting food sustainability in the households, FAITH program encourages barangay households to plant and sustain a wide array of vegetables and crops that will make them self-reliant.

For the community gardens category, barangay Centro placed first, followed by Lacaron and Poblacion Ilawod. For the schools category, Malonoy Elementary School won first place; Quinayuya Elementary, second and Dao Central Elementary, third. For the barangay health station (BHS) category, Matagnop won first; Malonoy, second; and Agtambi, third. For the day care centers category, Lacaron Day Care Center won first; followed by Bita Day Care Center and Matagnop Day Care Center.

Farmer Tomas Estorninos of Matagnop topped the household category, followed by Arnel Faraon of Bita and Rosa Clorion of Ilas Norte. Estorninos maintained 33 types of vegetables crops and medicinal plants. Estornino also raised goats and native chickens in his 400-sq.m.area.

According to Dordas, FAITH gardens have been in existence since the Green Revolution in the 1980s. The town of Dao likewise chose the best harvest crops from the farmers—longest beans, eggplant and white squash and biggest kalabasa and Saba and Cavendish bananas. Winners in these contests were awarded trophies, cash price and garden tools.

According to Deogracias Tianchon, Jr., Dao’s top municipal councilor, the town has recently passed Municipal Ordinance 011-005, series of 2011, or the “Ordinance Providing for the Adoption of the R.A. 10068 otherwise known as the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 in the Municipality of Dao, Capiz.” The first among the towns of the province to adopt R.A. 10068 launched by DA, Dao is optimistic for its production of crops and vegetables by fortifying its organic practices campaign.

Ms. Joyce Wendam, regional technical director of the Department of Agriculture (DA), expressed support for Dao’s initiative citing the challenge and importance of sustainable agriculture in the countryside. For his part, Mayor Escutin said that the bottom line of these and other projects is food sustainability in the community. The festival was also attended by local officials of Dao and the province of Capiz.