MMSU, through the Extension Directorate, once again affirms its full support and union with the City Government of Batac in its annual Farmers Festival this May 1-5, 2018. Themed “Honoring the Pride and Delight of the Soil—The Farmers”, said activity is a celebration cum recognition of farmers’ great contribution in ensuring quality foods served in every dining table of the Ilokanoes.

For years, the University has been very supportive in the conduct of said festival through the putting up of the Information and Technology (IT) booth to showcase the programs, projects, and activities of MMSU, and participation in the Carosa Parade as a way to show the ingenuity of the Research and Extension Directorates of the University and the agricultural products grown in demonstration farms. The IT Booth of the University showcases the programs and projects conducted by the University to share knowledge and technologies to farming families. As a key project to disseminate information and technology promotion, the IT booth houses IEC materials on different production and processing technologies on crops and livestock, and products from demonstration projects housed in the University such as bamboo, banana seedlings and fruit, and others.

Activities set for the city’s five-day Farmers Festival include a grand motorcade participated by Zanjera members and barangay and City officials, thanksgiving mass, farmers’ booth, farmers’ dance competition, a dog show, the Balasang ti Away pageant, and others. These activities lined for the celebration are meant to bind the community people closer with a sense of healthy and unified competition.  Enjoining stakeholders in the agricultural sector, the academe, agency partners, and the community people of Batac, the festivity lines a cohesive and cooperative set of activities dedicated to the farmers.   

As a knowledge and technology hub in Ilocandia, MMSU shares knowledge, technologies, and products to the community people of Batac through its IT booth aside from forged partnerships for the seedstock dispersal project and skills and capability trainings requested by the CGU. With Batac as one of the services areas of the University where its main campus is located, MMSU ensures the provision of its services, technologies, and agricultural products to all its partners for quality, inclusive, and sustainable development.

With its green and golden booth accentuating a bahay-kubo façade, seedlings and crops are exhibited in the booth.

Kluai Namwa: The Tissue–cultured Banana 

Continuous promotion and information dissemination is being done by the University to increase awareness and adoption of the tissue-culture banana by MMSU. The banana variety, Kluai Namwa, taken from Taiwan and, later on, given to MMSU through the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), is a variety that can be eaten as fresh fruit, boiled snack, or processed into chips.  Facilitated by the Research and Extension Directorates in October, 2016, 1000 seedlings were distributed to LGUs in the province to include Pinili, San Nicolas, Solsona, Nueva Era, Vintar, and Pasuquin. Seedlings were also grown in the Minuyungan of the Extension Directorate and CAFSD as a showcase of the new variety grown in the University.

With only more than a year, beneficiaries of the banana dispersal report growth in the different kinds of soil inherent in different municipalities. Monitoring with the PME Section and the Agricultural technologists of the recipient LGUs presents a record of its fruit with 12-16 arms and an aromatic smell. Initial assessment of its potential as a processing material with Ms. Mia Soriano, a food processor from Banna, Ilocos Norte, point out its future as a promising processing material for banana chips-making.

Food-tasting was also incorporated in the booth to showcase the banana variety. Boiled and fresh, the tasters conclude its distinct sweet taste and soft texture. “Nabanglo a kasla amorosa”, “Kas kakelnet ti dippig” (for the boiled), and “Atiwen ta kinasamitna ‘tay sugpetna”, “Mayat ti sam-it ken alsemna. Saan a makasuya”, “Nalamuyot ken nasamit… Saan a kasla tay dadduma a natibker ti lasagna”, exclaimed the visitors who have tasted the boiled and fresh bananas. Drawbacks observed were the sensitive skin that easily darkens upon pressure and the fast ripening upon harvesting. Suckers displayed and sold in the booth were instantly bought following these positive feedbacks received. Interested farmers likewise signified their intent to grow the variety in wide expanse of land in Batac.

Corcino Mango and Other Mango Varieties 

Ms. Evelyn Tumamao-Abitong, a fruit-tree enthusiast from Baay, Batac, Ilocos Norte, visited, once again, the IT booth of the University knowing that it will constantly and continually showcase agricultural products and seedlings from its nursery. Together with her husband and grandchild, they bought four Corcino mango seedlings in addition to the vegetables and fruits they have bought in the farmers’ booths.  

Recalling how she met corcino mango in the same exhibit she participated in a year before, she said “Idi first time ko a makitak ditoy a nakadisplay, kaslang naawisak a mangpadas. Adda nakitak ditoy a bunga, nakitak a corcino. Iso idi nakitak a corcino tay puon, nangpadasakon”. She was instantly enticed by the fruit displayed and upon finding the seedling, she bought one and tried propagating it with her knowledge in Agriculture. She bought one three years ago and planted them in her backyard, and another the following year after proving its good growth in their area. Now, the fruit trees are bearing fruits for family consumption and for neighbors who find the fruit as delectable as they do. With this, she intentionally came to buy more to add to her collection of corcino mango.

“Napintas ti panagdakkelna. Nasamit. Nabunga... Nagaget nga agbunga ken dadakkel ti bungana”, she said when asked about her observations on said mango variety. “Daydi immuna nga inlakok kadaytay immuna nga innalak, indisplayk idiay storemi idiay Baay. 60 pesos ti maysa a kilo. Naganar. Sinublisubli pay dagitay taga-ili a pulis”, she also shared. For how many fruits the tree can bear in once fruiting, two pieces is already near a kilogram in weight. “No babassit pay, green as in green. Habang a dumakdakkel, agrered met a dumakdakkel, agbukel. Tapos no kayatmo ti mangan, ti pagilasinan ket daytay kudilna. Diba agkusapo a pumuraw, no ikasdiaymo, nasilap. Medio nagleddag nukua ti unegnan. No kasdiay a kayatmo ti mangan, nakan-crunchy met la ti kasdiay a haan pay unay naluom. Ngem no talaga a naluom, talaga a nasamit met. Ni katugangak, magustoanna a kanen ta naluom”, she also shared. With its crunch and sweet taste, the fruit is a potential fruit to meet the dynamic taste and preference of buyers.

The Corcino mango variety, registered as NSIC 2005 Mn-08, is owned by Mr. Roque Corcino of Brgy 7, Piddig, Ilocos Norte. Its fruits are round at 102.80 mm in length and 82.4 width. It is green while young and gradually turns red as it ripens with skin reaching to 2.12 mm thickness. The flesh of the fruit is yellow-orange, watery, with 14.66° brix sweetness. It can be eaten raw with vinegar or with the sweetness enjoyed in its ripe.

Among the other fruit seedlings exhibited in the IT booth are MMSU Gold Carabao Mango registered as NSIC 1997 Mn-01, a national winner in the 1994 Best Mango Selection, Prima Mango registered as NSIC 2005 Mn-09, the Nanduc-Mai mango, the Consuelo Giant Duhat registered as NSIC 2010 Ja-01, the Aglibut Sweet Tamarind registered as NSIC 2008 Tr-01, guapple seedlings, atis, guyabano, kamias, and others.

MMSU Glut-1 and Climate-Resilient Rice Varieties Showcased 

With rice and corn as two of the most valuable crops in the province, improved and climate-resilient seedstocks are continually sought by farmers. With rains in the western part of the province and in the coming planting season coming near, the University also showcases seedstocks available in its threshold to interested farmers and growers.

Seeds from the recent harvest of MMSU Glut-1 were showcased in the IT booth. This variety, along with MMSU Glut 2, was developed by one of the University’s faculty-researchers to supply the raw materials needed for the chichacorn industry in the province. It is an open pollinated variety from the ‘purified’ Honey Corn with a potential yield of 5.61 tons per hectare that is 25% higher than that of the native glutinous corn.

            Inbred rice varieties in the booth include NSIC Rc 160 (Tubigan 14) certified seeds and the PSB Rc 82 (Penaranda) registered seeds. The NSIC Rc 160 yields from 5.6 (average yield) to 8.2 (max. yield) per hectare. It matures at 107 days after sowing and 122 TP. It has long grains with 71.1% milling recovery and a soft eating with 15.17 amylose content. It is resistant to yellow stem borers and moderately resistant to white stem borers. It also possess intermediate reaction to blast, bacterial leaf blight, and green leaf hopper, susceptibility to tungro, and moderate susceptibility to brown plant hopper. The PSB Rc 82, on the other hand, yields an average of 5.4 tons per hectare and a maximum yield of 12 tons per hectare. It matures after 110 days and is resistant to blast, intermediate reaction to bacterial leaf blight, brown plant hopper and stem borers, moderate susceptibility to green leafhoppers and susceptibility to tungro.  It has long grains with 70.0 milling recovery and a medium eating quality with 21.5 amylose content.

These varieties are also farmer-preferred because of their positive experience with these varieties. With these climate-resilient and improved seedstocks, it is hoped that farmers from varied municipalities continue to produce high and quality seedstocks. 

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