Sagada farmers look into the potential of Adlai

Travelling around the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), staff of the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) aimed to document reports of other varieties of adlai, as well as try to piece together its possible origin, and perhaps introduce the Department of Agriculture (DA)–BAR’s efforts to promote said crop to the locals.

In Sagada, Mt. Province, farmers and other municipal agriculturist officers (MAOs) were intrigued by the BAR representatives’ reports, and were most interested when presented with seed samples provided by Region 4A. Ms. Evelyn Pulon, a local farmer, reported that an individual by the name of Cesar Sawadan, from Malibcong, Abra, was the one who handed her two varieties of adlai and encouraged them to try out the crop. She disclosed that one of these two varieties was, in fact, edible.

Ms. Pulon took the time to show the DA-BAR team the other variety, which grew in the wild akin to a weed. She added that most locals took its presence for granted as it grew mostly near abandoned rice fields, merely treating it as a source of materials for beads, curtains, trays, and necklaces.

In Kiangan, after holding a presentation on DA-BAR’s efforts in promoting adlai, the information proffered by the residents was that farmers and MAOs are aware of adlai only as a weed that grows by the waysides and creeks, often ignored unless intended to be used as accessories or playthings—much like the testimonies from Sagada. Again, farmers were surprised when presented with the variety of adlai that is edible, more so when it was brought up that the said crop is considered to be a staple food, an alternative to rice and corn, by another region.

At the same time, the DA-BAR representatives asked the locals from both aforementioned areas to fill out questionnaires in trying to piece together a tangible history of adlai in the Philippines. Differing responses and stories were shared but the most common thread is that this crop has been thriving in our land for as long as they can remember.

Treated as an accessory or as a toy, Mr. Jimmy Cabigat from Banaue shared that they even resorted to selling necklaces made from adlai back in the old days for 5 pesos apiece. This particular variety of adlai is observed to be growing mostly in low-lying areas such as riverbanks, and seldom in upland areas. Until now, what is mostly referred to as the “wild” variety of adlai, has been the only kind that the majority of the locals of CAR know.

Even with a slew of new learnings such as different names for adlai, e.g., gistakyan, agle, makabuhay, and even kabbaong, BAR’s documentation of how and where this crop came to be remains a continuing effort. Maria Anna M. Gumapac, DA-BAR