Agri Plain Talk
Rootcrops in place of rice
MANILA, Philippines – Sometime back, we joined an informal discussion on how we could help minimize importing rice. It seems that increasing the yield of rice per hectare could not catch up with the demand of a fast-growing population. Increasing the area planted to rice will not be able to solve the problem completely. Increasing the area covered by irrigation can help but that involves a lot of money. All these, of course, can help alleviate the perennial shortage of rice in the country. But not totally.
One suggestion that we think should merit everybody’s support is eating root crops like camote, taro or gabi, tugui, ube and arrowroot.
Camote can particularly contribute to the reduction of rice consumption if it is vigorously promoted as rice substitute. Fred Yap, an aquaculture expert, is one fellow who strongly believes that eating camote will not only reduce the yearly rice requirements in the country. Actually, it could also help improve the health of people.
When he was 63 in 2009, he really got worried because his blood pressure was going up to 150/100. His fasting blood sugar (FBS) had shot up to 160 mg per deciliter (mg/dl). That was way above the normal range of 70 to 100 mg/dl.
He had resorted to many other curative measures except prescription drugs but to no avail. Then his sister who works with an NGO had mentioned to him that a friend of hers was able to reduce his blood sugar by shifting to a diet of camote instead of rice.
That was what Fred did. He shifted to eating camote in place of rice in January 2010. He reports that in just two weeks into his camote diet his FBS had dropped to 101 mg/dl. In another two weeks the reading had dropped to 96 mg/dl. His blood pressure had also dropped to 120/8o or sometimes 110/80. And that he achieved without taking any prescription drug.
Of course Fred says that it does not mean that he is eating nothing but camote. No, he eats everything else that is eaten with rice such as vegetables, fish or meat together with his camote. Fred now believes that if only 10 percent of Filipinos would shift to camote, rice import will become unnecessary.
Fred says that he eats mostly boiled whole camote. Sometimes he broils the roots in a turbo broiler.
Personally, we have also turned to camote albeit partially. We usually have steamed camote for breakfast instead of rice. We observe that sliced camote can be steamed in just five minutes. It takes a much shorter time than broiling, boiling or frying. At any rate, you can of course vary your preparation.
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Comments
magandang paraan po yan para maging malusog naman katawan ng mga pinoy...katulad ng mga australian mas hilig nila kumain ng potato instead of rice...hehehe
SANA MA BLOW UP SA MEDIA AT I PUSH NG GOBYIERNO PARA ENCOURAGE ANG MAMAYAN GAWIN ITO PARA SA IKABUBUTI NG MAMAYAN FOR A HEALTIER AND CHEAPER FOOD FOR FILIPINOS. NAPAKAGANDA ITO AT MAS MADALING ALAGAAN ANG ROOT CROPS. KAYA DAPAT MAGKAROON NG MASSIVE INFORMATION DISSEMANATION AT EDUKASYON PARA SA PROPER PLANTING AND PREPARATION NG ROOT CROPS. DI NA KAILANGAN NG FREE DISTRIBUTION NG PLANTING MATERIALS AT READILY AVAILABLE ANG MGA ITO ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. MALAKI RIN ANG ROLE NG DECS DITO UPANG KAHIT SA PRIMARY SCHOOL AY ITUTURO NA ITO AT SASANAYIN ANG MGA BATA NA KUMAIN NG ROOT CROPS .
MORE POWER AND GODBLESS
OFW responds to camote story
By ZAC B. SARIAN
August 11, 2010, 2:44pm
We just got this e-mail from Nixon Princesa, currently procurement assistant of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste. He happened to read our column about Wilfredo Yap who shifted from rice to eating camote. Here, he goes.
“First let me tell you that I have been a fan of yours since a long time ago, from the ‘80s. Whenever I am home in the Philippines, I would grab copies of your Agriculture Magazine, even the old ones, and would read them two or three times. Outside of the country, I read and save articles written by you in the issue of Manila Bulletin.
“I think the Philippines need more journalists like you who would rather write on ways to alleviate people’s lives than any other trivial issues. You rightly deserve your Magsaysay award, maybe even more
“I have been an OFW for 19 years and have been to the Middle East, East Africa and now Southeast Asia (other than the Philippines) in all these years.
“In your subject article, you mentioned that Mr. Wilfredo Yap ‘believes that if only 10 percent of Filipinos would shift to camote, rice import will become unnecessary’.
“From what I have seen, I think Mr. Yap is correct. I was in East/Central Africa from 2006 to 2010, mostly in Burundi to be exact. I have visited Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda for short times during this period. The East Africans, indeed most of the rest of Africa, eat rice as their staple food.
But their staple food is not only rice. They rotate rice with bread, camote, potato, corn flour that they cook with water into ‘ugali’, banana (plantain), cassava starch (also into ugali) and pasta (nine starchy foods). They cook these sautéed with vegetables, meat and fish or separately. And they have strong, sturdy bodies.
“I have tried and lived with the same diet for four years. In my fourth month I became used to the other eight staple foods I would not even touch rice for three or four days. I did not become weak. On the contrary I felt I was stronger. When I left the continent I was a little more bulky than usual.
“It was just a case of having the wrong perception concerning rice or the absence of rice in my diet. I thought I would feel weak but this never happened. I even liked the variety of the food that I was consuming. And it was cheaper.
“In the Middle East, the West and in Europe, people rotate their staple food in the same manner. I think that Filipinos should be informed/educated about this to keep the Philippines off the list of rice importing countries.
“Thank you and here is wishing that you have more writing years in your future.’
Well, thank you Mr. Princesa. We have also started our own camote diet, albeit only partly
Ako po ay umaayon sa kaisipan po niyo. Marami na po akong napuntahan mga iba-ibang bansa. Maraming mga bansa ang kumakain din ng kanin pero minsan lang sa isang araw, yon ay sa panang halian lang. Ang agahan po nila ay kamote o saging ganoon din ang hapunan nila siyempre po may ulam din.
Dito po kasi sa atin pag kumain ka nang kamote o saging bilang kapalit ng kanin eh katamaran ang ibig sabihin, yon ang sa mentalidad ng karamihan....
Ang production ng kamote ay mas mura kay sa palay kaya mainam na dapat matutunan natin ang pagkain ng kamote o saging para makaahon tayo sa kahirapan....
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