ILOILO CITY –The Department of Agriculture (DA) regional field unit in Western Visayas engaged members of the local media here for an entrepreneurial skills training using organic food products to provide them additional source of income.
The training held Tuesday afternoon at the Western Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center (WESVIARC) in Hamungaya, Jaro made use of tomato and Roselle (species of Hibiscus) as raw materials.
James Earl Ogatis, DA-6 officer-in-charge for the Regional Agriculture and Fishery Information Section (RAFIS), said that by capacitating their media partner, they would be able to appreciate the usefulness of these products, which often go to waste when it is at their peak season.
“This could be a livelihood for all of you,” said Dr. Peter Sobrevega, DA-6 Regional Technical Director for Research.
Tomato is one of the most abundant agricultural products in Western Visayas. While they are currently sold up to PHP40 a kilo, yet during peak season they are often left to rot in the fields due to very low market price.
He cited that using the available technology, the shelf life of tomatoes maybe extended.
Glenna Tupas Dee, herbal enthusiast, shared her expertise and story on how she decided to embark on organic food production using tomatoes and Roselle.
She said that her father happened to have a wide plantation of tomatoes way back when they were in Mindanao and her mother turned their surplus produce into tomato jam.
Meantime, she explained that extensive studies revealed that Roselle is high in antioxidant and contains vitamins and minerals that are needed by the body.
“It is good for the heart, for those with cholesterol and with diabetes,” she cited. She added that the product also “inhibits replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).”
“If manufactured will provide another income for Filipinos,” she said.
The country is now in the best position to produce other Roselle products such as red tea because other producers were affected by climate change.
Dee, owner of the Roselle Food Products in Iloilo City, has also developed various products out of Roselle such as super whitening soap and shampoo bar/hair tonic. (Perla Lena/PNA)
