UPLB develops edible landscaping
The
University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) has developed a starter
kit on “edible” landscaping to help health buffs who wish to have a
healthy lifestyle through beautiful gardens planted with nutritious food
crops.
Believing that no Filipino should be left hungry, UPLB started the
concept of having an artistic style in growing edible plants through
edible landscaping.
In 2009, the team headed by Dr. Leonido Naranja of UPLB, embarked on
the project titled, “Technology Promotion and Commercialization of
Edible Landscaping,” funded under the National Technology
Commercialization Program (NTCP) of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau
of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).
“Since then, BAR and the EL (edible landscaping) team have been going
around the Philippines in promoting the edible landscaping concept,”
Dr. Fernando Sanchez Jr., project leader said.
The EL technology is being brought to different regions in the
country, such as Bohol, Leyte, Cagayan de Oro, and Bicol through the
conduct of seminars.
EL combines science and creativity to form a revolutionary crop
production technology. It uses vegetables, herbs, edible shrubs, or
fruit bearing trees as major materials in place of ornamental plants.
It follows the principle of landscape designs in creating an
attractive environment and functional spaces while producing nutritious,
organic, and safe foods for the family at the same time.
The EL starter kit is a complete guide for those who want to adopt EL within the vicinity of their own homes.
The kit contains brochures on what edible landscaping is, its
components, and the EL process. Included also is a sample theme garden
design with specifications wherein one can choose whether to build a
pinakbet garden; an herb garden; a go, grow, glow garden; or a salad
garden.
More importantly, there is a readily-available seed-mix package
inside composed of sample seeds of crops specified in the design.
BAR through its Applied Communication Division and the UPLB’s EL team
adopted the technology for the central setting display for this year’s
technology forum.
Showcased were technologies on beekeeping, seaweeds, kapis, organic
soybean, arius, abaca, fruit wines, sweet sorghum, native pig, coco sap
sugar, mushroom, and agri-mechanization. Also featured were success
stories from BAR’s two banner programs, Community-based Participatory
Action Research and NTCP.