EDITORIAL - Safeguarding ube

With ube going global, the Department of Agriculture has banned the export of fresh purple yam to protect local planting materials.

Whether the ban comes too late will be known soon enough, if other countries with advanced agricultural and food processing industries begin selling ube products sourced from their own farms.

After taking the local tuber for granted for a long time, agriculture officials appear unprepared for the spike in global demand as Philippine ube attains international renown rivaling matcha.

Philippine production cannot keep pace even with domestic demand for ube – fresh, powdered, processed into paste and flavors for a wide range of food items. The tuber can become a major cash crop, but the government must provide the necessary aid to farmers, in terms of premium planting materials, technical assistance, financial and marketing support.

Incentives must also be given to those with the capabilities and know-how for production on a larger scale including tissue culture. The government must move quickly to obtain a Geographical Indication for Philippine ube and assist local governments in getting GI registration for specific regional varieties.

The Philippines is no stranger to GI registration; “Guimaras mango” is now GI-protected in its export to Europe. The same can be done for ube.

Neighboring countries particularly Thailand and Vietnam have moved faster in seeing the market potential of their crops. The Philippines had to play catch-up with Thailand in exporting coconut juice and cream, and has yet to capitalize on expanding the production of the uniquely delectable macapuno.

Farmers need help in propagating the best varieties of other items that grow well in the Philippines or are unique to certain regions, such as pili, pungent Ilocos garlic, coffee and cacao.

There’s a huge global market for orchids and cut flowers, but in this region, the Philippines is trailing Thailand and Taiwan in orchid production, and Thailand and Malaysia in cut flowers.

Energizing the farms through the production of high-value crops such as ube and empowering farmers are infinitely better than any state-funded ayuda or subsidy. And such crops, like ube, also become a source of national pride.