The Agri-Kapihan is really where you can pick up very useful information in farming and gardening.

This is the forum that is held every last Sunday of the month at the courtyard of radio station DWWW along E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd. in Quezon City.

In last Sunday’s Agri-Kapihan, we met Raffy Espiritu of Luna, La Union, one of the more successful participants in the Young Farmers Program initiated several years back by former Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Raffy’s project is production of peanut. He was one of the first to multiply the Asha variety from India which produces high yield of large-seeded pods.

He related to us a big mistake committed by a buyer of pods for planting. The buyer went to Luna all the way from Mindanao to buy 10 sacks of unshelled Asha peanut intended for planting. The bad news is that when the planter from Mindanao sowed his seeds three months from the time he bought the pods, he got a very low germination.

What happened? The pods were already dry when they were bought by the Mindanao grower. When he arrived home, he placed the unshelled peanuts inside onion bags thinking that it would be better if they are ventilated.

That’s not right, according to Raffy. Too bad, Raffy did not brief him when he bought the peanuts. What the buyer should have done was to place the pods in clear plastic bag that is properly sealed so that it is airtight, then placed inside a sack. It is something like the chemical fertilizer, according to Raffy. If this is done, the viability of the seeds would be preserved.

Another way is to store the seeds in an airtight plastic drum.
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ON COCO SUGAR. We also gathered an important information from Dr. Rene Sumaoang at the Agri-Kapihan. He has been doing some testing of available coco sugar in the market. He observes that one is particularly substandard. When you use it to sweeten coffee, there’s a prevailing sour taste in the coffee. Why? It is apparent that the toddy (the flower sap) was left in the open too long before it was boiled. He says that the toddy should be boiled immediately after collection. Gathering should be frequent to avoid fermentation due to prolonged exposure to air before boiling. Maybe, a standard protocol should be developed for making coco sugar.