‘Kamote,’ the Filipino term of sweetpotato, may have a negative connotation unique to our culture but for Filipino farmers, it is a source of their livelihood – and even their reason for becoming rich.
It only took conversations with Tarlaqueño sweetpotato farmers, in their simple and unassuming attires, to open the eyes of matinee idol Marvin Agustin regarding the reality of sweetpotato farming in the country. He featured this in a video, “Superfood na nakakayaman pa?” in his YouTube channel accessible here: https://tinyurl.com/SweetpotatoEpisode.
The episode is part of his role as Agri-Aqua ambassador to the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology or DOST-PCAARRD. It is also part of the DOST-PCAARRD Flavors of Science campaign, which aims to popularize the science behind food production.
In the episode, Dr. Lilibeth Laranang, director of the Rootcrops Research and Training Center of Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU) likened the process of harvesting sweetpotato to harvesting gold. She said that planting this root crop has created many millionaire farmers.
Mr. Arturo Tabago, former vice chairman of Sapang Multipurpose Cooperative in Tarlac, agrees with Dr. Laranang, as he said, a farmer can earn P218,000 in net profit in farming a hectare of sweetpotato. This value, however, depends on the selling price of sweetpotato for the month.
Tabago is part of Sapang Multipurpose Cooperative, which organizes and supports sweetpotato farmers in the province.
It is not only in Tarlac that sweetpotato is valued, according to Dr. Laranang. “Sweetpotato is an important crop worldwide. It is resilient and has many uses. In Tarlac, it is considered an important cash crop. Most importantly, sweetpotato is highly nutritious,” she said in Filipino.
Sweetpotato, the superfood
Sweetpotato has been known in the global market as a superfood as it is high in vitamins, minerals, micronutrients, and is low on glycemic index but high in quality dietary fiber. Dr. Laranang said that different colors of sweetpotato offer different types of nutrients: white-flesh camote has more calcium; yellow to orange is loaded with beta carotene, and purple-fleshed sweetpotato is high in anthocyanins.
“It is an almost complete human food,” said Dr. Laranang.
In the video, Agustin said, “Sobrang sustansya ho talaga ng sweetpotato. Ang alam ko nga ho dito ay talagang maganda sa katawan - ang mga kaibigan kong nag-g-gym at ako rin dati, kapag ayokong tumaba - sweetpotato, kamote ang pinapakain sa amin para muscle-muscle.”
To which Dr. Laranang said that they produce sweetpotato juice intended for those who want to build their muscles since the juice is high in potassium.
Aside from juice, TAU processed sweetpotato as ‘kamote pie,’ ice cream, cookies, ‘buchi,’ and brownies.
According to Dr. Laranang, studying which among the processes can be done with sweetpotato aside from boiling or steaming them, will help farmers create more value to their harvest.
Injecting science in sweetpotato farming
DOST-PCAARRD has partnered with TAU to develop the sweetpotato industry through research and development in the 1990s. Dr. Laranang cited that it was the Council that shed light to the Tarlaqueño farmers on sweetpotato viruses.
In the video, Dr. Laranang said, “Yung understanding ng mga magsasaka, ang dahilan ng kulot ay nagsasawa na sa lupa o kaya dahil pumutok si Mt. Pinatubo. Nakita namin na hindi yun ang dalawang dahilan kung di dahil ito sa mga viruses na nakita namin, at ang sakit na ito ay nakakahawa. So doon po nag-umpisa ang tulong ng DOST.”
Currently, DOST-PCAARRD continues its partnership with TAU through various research on sweetpotato. The Sweetpotato R&D Center was established through the Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D (NICER) Program of the DOST, which is being monitored by DOST-PCAARRD.
Agustin capped his vlog with the statement, “Ang galing ho, ang galing ng DOST-PCAARRD kaya naman nagtutulungan kami ngayon para magbigay ng magagandang impormasyon at tamang impormasyon para sa mga katulad kong gusto pang malaman … kung ano ang mga nagiging innovations para ipagpatuloy na magkaroon tayo ng stable at quality na produce sa Pilipinas.”