Success Story:

Success Story

The sacred ubi of Bohol: A tale of successful farming

Ubi is sacred in Bohol. That was the first, striking one-liner statement I've read from a pack of ubi powder when I set my foot in Bohol province, the largest producer of ubi in the country. Yes, that one-liner is true as confirmed by the Boholanos themselves and the ubi farmers we interviewed during a site visit in Guindulman, one of the sites for the Bureau of Agricultural Research's (BAR) Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) project on “Ubi Agribusiness Development Project”.

In Bohol, “ubi” as they call it, is different from “ube”. Ubi is what most Filipino call purple yam, while ube is the adjective which is the Tagalog translation for purple. Meanwhile, “kinampay” is a variety of ubi which is native to Bohol. Its flesh is a marbled purple color and is well-known for its aroma. There are also other ubi purple varieties in the rest of the country but not as venerated and advertised as that of kinampay in Bohol.

Ubi is not only the Boholanos’ staple rootcrop but was also venerated as a sacred crop during ancient times in Bohol. During a famine, it is said that ubi was the only crop that grew in Bohol soil that saved the Boholanos from death, thus their great respect for it, so much so that it's the only staple food included in their Bohol Hymn.

When one speaks of "ubi" to a Boholano, there is always a story to tell that until today, when anyone accidentally drops an ubi to the ground or table, they would utter an apology and kiss it as a sign of reverence.

They also have an Ubi Festival wherein they hold the Miss Ubi Beauty Pageant. It is usually set during early January, the harvest season for ubi. This annually-held event is attended by exhibitors from different local government units (LGUs) to display their different ubi varieties like the traditional, aromatic kinampay, kabus-ok, iniling, tamisan, baligonhon, binanag, gimnay, and binato. This activity provides agri-entrepreneurs a venue for promoting quality, high-value, and sustainable ubi products and services to generate income for the local producers. This year's Ubi Festival will be held on the 2nd week of December.

The prospect of purple yam production
Not only in Bohol, is purple yam important but in the country as a whole. So important that there is a need to strengthen its production, processing, and marketing to cope with the rapidly growing demand, both in the local and global markets.

Tagged as one of the country's five banner crops for export by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the demand for purple yam continues to grow. Here and abroad, it is being marketed in the forms of puree, powder, dried chips, cubes in syrup, ice cream, halaya, and many others.
Yam is the most expensive tuber crop in the Philippines. For one thing, its selling price is much higher than white or Irish potato, sweet potato, cassava and taro.

Its nutritive value makes it a more valuable crop than other rootcrops in the country. It is rich in carbohydrates and contains 20 to 22 percent starch, vitamins A and B, iron and minerals.

In the private sector alone, the demand for yam has increased to 10-20% annually. Ubi processors in the Philippines demand as much as 49, 000 tons a year from which 13,000 tons of this is exported abroad.

So far, the increasing demand for fresh tubers comes mainly from Luzon and a few from Central Visayas and Northern and Southern Mindanao where major food processors operate. Meanwhile, the demand for processed yam products come mostly from foreign countries like US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and other Middle East and European countries.

The supply could hardly keep up with the demand for this dollar earner since the quality and yield for purple yam is low.

CPAR's ubi agribusiness development project
Yam production is fast becoming popular among farmers especially those in marginal hilly lands, because of the prospects of a good income from it. More than that, yam promises a good life for our farmers if only we are able to exploit its full potential.

Although there is a growing demand for purple yam, cultivation and production remain to be the biggest threat to the industry. Production of yam has grown very slowly preventing the further development of the sector. According to the latest statistics provided by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), it took 10 years for the yam industry to double its production area.

In an effort to sustain and strengthen the ubi industry in Bohol, BAR as the funding agency, together with the municipal and provincial local government units (LGUs) as implementing agencies, in collaboration with the DA-RFU 7, Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology (CVSCAFT), and the Bohol Ubi Convergence Group, a CPAR project was initiated and established in 2003.

CPAR is an approach and strategy for technology assessment that involves the participation of the community together with the experts and researchers in identifying the most appropriate technologies that would eventually meet the community's priority needs. It tackles farmers' priorities, strategies, resource allocation, and the biophysical and socioeconomic environments under which the farm household operates.

The main idea of CPAR is to fast track technology promotion and adoption among farmers by following the on-farm research (OFR) approach in testing and promoting agricultural technologies. The ultimate goal is to increase the total farm productivity and income of farmers within the context of sustainable production system. It gives technology transfer a local face where a farming community finds its farming issues addressed through site-specific farming solutions.

When few years of CPAR proved successful and that many farmers are already involved and the community and LGU are fully supportive of the project, CPAR eventually graduated to the Agribusiness Development Project (ADP). In this effort, the Central Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center (CENVIARC), DA's regional station in Bohol, continues to research on the gaps and emerging problems about the technology introduced to the farmers.

Two main objectives of the ADP on ubi are: 1) to improve the production efficiency of ubi so as to increase the income of farmers in every cropping season; and 2) for the farmers to reduce their postharvest losses in ubi by at least 25%.

Eventually, the project hopes that the farmers establish direct marketing lines for their produce to institutional buyers and increase their share of the final market price by at least 30%. Another aim is to strengthen ties among ubi producers for collective marketing.

One of the downsides of intensive cultivation of yam in the country is the unavailability of planting materials. The conventional method of propagation we have right now is too slow to cope with the demand for the crop's tubers, which comprise the main planting material. A high-yielding variety of ubi, VU2, was introduced to the farmer-cooperators. Vu2, a variety of ubi known for its deep purple color was developed by the Visayas State College of Agriculture (ViSCA). This is in addition to the local varieties, aromatic kinampay and the baligonhon.

Ubi's tale of success
Since the initiation of the ubi agribusiness development project in 2005, many farmer-cooperators profited.

For instance, in the municipalities of Dauis and Guindulman, major sites of the CPAR project, farmers are now enjoying the profit of ubi farming as an alternate crop for corn and legumes. This is in addition to their other sources of income.

Among the two successful farmer-cooperators of this project are Nestor Deloy and Benedicto Marzo.
Nestor Deloy, 46, is not only the barangay captain of Brgy. Basdio, Guindulman, but is also one of the successful farmer-cooperators of the CPAR project since its inception in 2003. He owns a 675 sq m of land which he opted to allocate for ubi farming. He planted the kinampay variety, which he will harvest this coming December and early January.

Deloy has been into farming since childhood and eventually pursued agriculture as a course in college. His theory-based knowledge in school eventually made him successful in farming today particularly in adopting certain technologies to make his farm productive. “Para ba akong farmer-scientist, na yung mga natutunan ko na-aapply ko sa tunay na buhay” ( I am like a farmer-scientist, what I have learned, I can apply in real life), he gladly reports.

When asked how the project affects his farming, with candor he said that, “It was through the implementation of this project that the ubi industry in Bohol was revived.” According to him, many of his fellow farmers were hesitant at first in engaging into yam farming because aside from its being seasonal; yam is also susceptible to pests and diseases. Through CPAR, productivity of his farm area was improved. His farm became a model for others such that some of the farmers were encouraged to also go into ubi farming. “Nakatulong din sa pag-encourage na baranggay captain ako at involved sa project!” (It helps me in encouraging that I am a barangay captain and I am involved in the project!) According to him, being a farmer-cooperator of CPAR brought personal prestige to his community as a farmer-model for them.”

Aside from being a public servant and a model farmer in his villages, he is also an active member of the Guindulman Ubi Growers Association (GUGA), which enabled him to strengthen collaboration with stakeholder for collective marketing.

As farmer-cooperator, he was obliged to tenaciously record all activities and expenses in his farm. The good thing about this is, according to him, he could see his income and profit at a glance. As a cooperator during the first year of implementation, planting materials were provided, which they were required to return after the harvest season. This is distributed to other farmers who are interested in ubi farming. The project also provides technical assistance for the farmers particularly on management and marketing. Expenses on labor and other management activities are shouldered by the farmer-cooperator. “I usually hire other people during harvesting. In return I give them rewards in kind, i.e. planting materials, food or a part of the harvest.”

Among the common problems encountered in planting ubi according to him are: occurrence of disease, slow germination of seeds, and theft. Ubi are often grown in open and hilly lands so theft is common among the villagers.

When asked about the benefits of being a farmer-cooperator, he gladly recounts, “During the first year, his family was able to buy house furniture, pay debts, provide financial assistance for the education of close relative, and pay other household expenses. Meanwhile, for his community, he was able to give some planting materials for the others who also wanted to start planting ubi. When asked about his future plans, he willingly confirmed to continue planting ubi and wished CPAR to prosper.

The first year of implementation of the CPAR agribusiness development project on ubi resulted to high income among the farmer-partners in the community that a lot of farmers were encouraged to plant thus, increasing the production of yam in Bohol province.

So far, farmers have established market linkages to at least three yam processors in Bohol providing them assured income. These yam processors, namely: Bohol Development in Jagna, Rural Improvement Club in Corella, and Mayacabac Women's Association in Dauis, buy their newly-harvested yam producing easy income to the farmers. This also reduced the farmers' buying volume which catered only to yam-producing farms in the area. These processors form another organization called the Bohol Convergence Group. They have one common processing methodology to maintain the same quality standards for their product.