Loren backs full propagation of malunggay

Senator Loren Legarda yesterday expressed her full support for the government move to tap "malunggay" as among its priorities for propagation, but added "such a move should have been done long ago."

The chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Loren however cautioned the government not to get too preoccupied with the move, saying "it is only one of the many agricultural priorities that it must strive to carry out."

"I just hope the government will give the same attention to other agricultural products such as rice, corn, cassava and other staples, as well as poultry, hogs, cattle and cultured fish so as to make our people more self-sufficient in food," she said.

She said the country must exert every effort and extend every help it can to agriculture so as not to be too dependent on food imports, especially in the face of the current global financial crisis that is draining the country's dollar resources.

Loren added that planters of palay and other crops need the same attention the government has promised to malunggay farmers.

Loren issued the statement following the government announcement that it will tap malunggay in the fight against poverty and climate change.

"While malunggay alone may not be enough to help us solve the prevailing dehumanizing poverty among millions of Filipinos, this is a good start," she pointed out. "Malunggay has vitamins and other nutrients that promote the health of people who eat it."

She stressed however that the government must show unrelenting will to ensure the success of malunggay propagation, or it will end a mere lip service.

Loren noted that the Department of Agriculture (DA) has promised to develop better technologies and shed facilities for the massive production of malunggay planting materials.

"When we say this and that, the government must live up to its promise. When it promises the farmers fertilizers, seeds and farm inputs, it must not break it." Malunggay, or moringa oleifera, is said to be rich in Vitamins C and A iron, and high density lipoprotein or good cholesterol. It is easy to propagate.

The plant grows practically everywhere -- in the backyard, along the highways, roads - and also helps purify water and air.

Loren said that malunggay leaves, ounce for ounce, contain the calcium equivalent of four glasses of milk, the vitamin C of seven oranges, the potassium of three bananas, three times the iron of spinach, four times the vitamin A in carrots and two times the protein in milk.