Vegetables take center stage in East-West Seed Field Day

Vegetables were the main attraction at East West Seed’s Field Day in Bacoor, Cavite and Los Baños, Laguna.

“We are giving vegetables the spotlight they deserve. Vegetables represent a real contribution to development – they provide good income opportunity for farmers and traders, and they enhance the health and nutrition of consumers,” said Henk Hermans, East-West Seed general manager in the Philippines.

The demo fields were organized as part of East-West Seed’s participation to the 25th Asian Seed Congress, the biggest gathering of seed industry players in the world.

With the theme, “Better Seeds for a Better World,” the EWS demo field showcased over 100 vegetable varieties which include round eggplant, butternut pumpkin, purple waxy-sweet corn, heart-shaped bitter gourd, and purple yardlong bean.

“East-West Seed has been developing a wide range of tropical vegetable varieties to help meet the world’s growing demand for food and to improve the productivity of smallholder farmers. We aim to offer improved varieties that produce better yield in changing conditions and have traits that are attractive to vegetable consumers,” Hermans said.

He said vegetables require less water than most field crops and can be harvested within a shorter time.

Vegetables, also referred to as “cash crops” also provide a rich source of micronutrients.

“Vegetables grow faster and can be grown throughout the year, therefore more crops can be raised in a year, which is crucial for earning a steadier income. The average income per hectare is also significantly higher with vegetables, compared to field crops,” he said.

A 1,000 square meter of land planted to bitter gourd will give a farmer roughly the same income as one hectare planted to rice, he added.

“With the predicted population growth, by 2050, the world will need an additional 730 million tons of fruits and vegetables. To meet this growing food demand, we need to help our smallholder farmers and encourage more people, especially the youth, to go into the agriculture sector,” Hermans noted.