Category Archives: Agriculture

Sayote: Green Gold From the Boondocks

Sayote a.k.a. chayote a.k.a. sechium edule is now selling at P20/kilo here in Manila. It’s a bit cheaper than cabbage and wongbok but it’s also much much cheaper to produce. Unlike the other highland vegetables which need a lot of farm input (those dangerous pesticides and commercial fertilizers), sayote is rather cheap and easy to raise. You just plant a seed anywhere, water it occasionally and it will bear fruit long after the end of Gloria’s disastrous reign.

Sayote is believed to have originated from Guatemala and Mexico. It might have reached our corner of the world during the days of the galleon trade when the Philippines was trading with Mexico.

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Biag di Gardinero (The Lives of Vegetable Farmers)

Vegetable farmers have always depended on the weather. When the weather is good, their harvest will likely turn out well. Their produce may only fetch a so-so price in the market but they have more vegetables to sell. When the weather is bad, the harvest may not turn out well. Farmers might have lesser vegetables to sell but the price of their produce is likely to go up so things will still even out.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, the current cold weather has affected vegetable farms in Benguet destroying at least P10 million worth of crops. Here’s a short GMA 7 News report on this matter.

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