Indigenous vegetables (IVs) are part of Filipino food preparations. Prominent in home gardens and some traditional farming systems, they are low-cost and nutritious options in the Filipino food basket. However, they are underutilized despite their recognized importance owing to lack of available germplasm – including seed/planting materials – for widespread use; lack of information on use, key benefits and how they can fit into production systems; the preferential emphasis on the production, marketing and consumption of high-value vegetables; the low regard of some consumers for indigenous vegetables, and other reasons. As an initial effort to improve the utilization of IVs, the project entitled “Documentation of Indigenous Vegetables in the Philippines” implemented by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) with funding support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) assembles available information on indigenous vegetables from printed and electronic resources as well as from on-the-ground community interactions in 20 provinces in the Philippines: Abra, Batangas, Bohol, Bukidnon, Camarines Sur, Capiz, Davao del Sur, La Union, Leyte, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Quezon, Rizal, South Cotabato, Surigao del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte. The project is being coordinated by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) of DOST.
Specific Objectives:
- Document the interspecific and intraspecific diversity, utilization, maintenance, and seed supply of indigenous vegetables in selected barangays in municipalities with history of traditional production, utilization and consumption of the crop commodity, or where there is potential for their production and utilization;
- Compile available printed and electronic information on indigenous vegetables from all accessible sources;
- Store and maintain information on indigenous vegetables in a simple database for easy and retrieval; and,
- Promote indigenous vegetables through publication of a compendium of publications in physical and electronic form, popularized pamphlets, a book, articles in national newspapers, a feature in national broadcast media and videos in social media.