Restoring the glimmer of ‘Ilocos White Gold’

Garlic, one of the country’s high value commercial crops, anticipates a strong comeback as the government continues to intensify efforts in reviving the ailing industry.

Poor quality planting materials, proliferation of pests and diseases, high cost of production and unstable market prices are considered the culprits that caused a major decline in the production of local garlic.

To address this, the Department of Agriculture-Ilocos Norte Research and Experiment Center (DA-INREC), in partnership with the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) embarked on a project that seeks to produce high-quality cultivars which will be distributed to garlic farmers.

Wilma Ibea, center chief of DA-INREC and project leader, said that through this initiative, the farmers are expected to multiply and expand garlic production, especially in Ilocos province.

Based on recent data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Ilocos Norte, the major garlic producer in the country, showed a 33 percent downtrend in area planted and harvested from 2,620 hectares in 2009 to 1,740 hectares in 2013.

Similarly, the volume of production also plummeted by 24.75 percent to 5,435 metric tons as farmers shifted to other cash crops due to unstable market prices, high cost of planting materials, and high dependence on imported garlic.

In 2015, imports reached 74,000 MT, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total supply, which amounted to $25.43 million.

Although the Ilocos region is still the biggest contributor to garlic production in the Philippines, it is still not enough to meet the increasing demand for local consumption alone.

The project, which began in December 2017, dealt with collecting garlic cultivars and strains grown in the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan.

Once collected, these were then characterized and evaluated based on yield performances and now serve as the primary basis for producing the best yielding, high-quality planting materials made available for garlic seed growers.

The Ilocos White, Ilocos Pink, Tan Bolters, Mexican, VFTA 275 M76, and Miracle were the six garlic cultivars planted for seed multiplication at the INREC experimental farm.

The produced garlic will be used for the multi-location trials for garlic expansion in La Union and Pangasinan.

To be certain of the quality of the produce, an enhanced technology system was used as a blanket application for the seed multiplication setup.

These include appropriate soil type, damage-free cloves, proper seed treatment and land preparation, correct fertilization and planting distance, pest management practices, irrigation, application of Gibberellic acid (GA3), harvesting, drying and storage.

The project has been a success story for Alberto Florentino, a farmer of 40 years who has almost five hectares of garlic production area.

When he was chosen to be part of the project, he was provided with 200 kilos of seeds along with the package of technology that assured him of better yields.

True enough, Florentino was able to harvest three tons of garlic and was able to link directly to a buyer based in Metro Manila. He is now a regular supplier of the Ilocos White Gold.

Another farmer-cooperator, Noel Quemado, is more than grateful for his involvement in the project. Like Florentino, he made it big in producing the Ilocos White Gold, which enabled him to harvest 500 kilos from his 2,800 square meter production area.

With this, Quemado has high hopes for the future of the Ilocos White Gold being the region’s champion commodity.