Ipon (dulong Tag) is a Rare Delicacy of Ilocanos

Old folks know exactly when ipon arrives, by the phase of the moon and coolness of the Siberian High. The news spreads like wildfire, and soon people crowd the fishing grounds and market. For ipon is a delicacy of the Ilocanos.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Ipon (Glossogobius giuris). It iscollectively includes the fry of anchovies, gobies, including commercial species. Top photo: newly caught ipon (it is eaten raw fresh with onion and ginger). Lower photos: ipon cooked dry or with broth (sabaw) spiced with tomato, ginger, onion, and green or bell pepper). Ipon tamales (wrapped with banana leaves) is a popular recipe. So with ipon bagoong. Try ipon torta for breakfast. Juvenille and adult ipon are best cooked in sinigang with liberal amount of tomato and onion, and green pepper - and served piping hot, picnic style. (Note: The fish caught with ipon are susay (Ilk), shallow water dwellers at the estuary.)

Ipon reaches maturity to become one of the many species of freshwater and marine fish, such as these two specimens. When we were kids, we used to catch them with tiny fishhook and throw net (tabukol). Or we used seine net (lambat) across the river, and dragged it upstream, trapping the fish in the process. Local folks have a way of classifying them like ipusan (long tailed), butubot (big bellied), birut (juvenile ipon), and bunog (closely similar to but quite bigger than the specimen in the lower photo). The fry of many more species may be part of the collective migration upstream called ipon-run.

By the time the run is completed - or disrupted - the survivors are on their own, or they form smaller schools, this time of their own kind. I believe that among the survivors are those that become sidingan (spotted), malaga (samaral), banak or purong (mullet), kapiged (relative of the malaga), and others like ar-aro (martiniko), bagsang, gurami, and carp that either go farther upstream or move down to the sea, while others remain at the estuary where freshwater and seawater meet in varying and changing levels according to the tides and river flow.

When I was a kid I used to call ipon fairy fish, because of its similarity with fairy shrimp or alamang. This enigmatic fish when caught measures only half centimeter long, arriving in schools at the mouths of rivers like the mighty Banaoang River in Santa (Ilocos Sur), and Bauang River in La Union. 

Here the natives know exactly when it arrives, by the phase of the moon and coolness of the Siberian High. The news spreads like wildfire, and soon people crowd the fishing grounds and market. For ipon is a delicacy of the Ilocanos.

Dulong or ipon appears as a composite school, mainly fries of anchovies and gobies, Family Engraulidae and Family Gobiidae. There are also different species which later become distinct after some time. But the enigma of the ipon remains.

For example, what trigger spawning and migration? How effective is collective survival? When does weaning take place? Where? Or do members remain in school until they are adults, and continue on to produced the next generation? Do they occur proportionately with the amount of food in the area?

If this is so, then we may offer some explanation to the annual population explosion of anchovies (dilis or munamon Ilk) along the coast of Peru which is the world's number one supplier of anchovies and fish meal. This area is characterized by upwelling, that is, upward current that brings back to the surface nutrients that was washed to sea. These are mainly guano droppings of migratory birds that feed on the anchovies. Here in the photic zone - the depth sunlight can penetrate the water - plankton abound that trigger the biological engine of food web. It is so powerful that half of the world's fish caught comes from this region. Indeed the Peruvian coast constitutes the highest marine biological density and diversity in the world.

Here the population density is such that when fish kill occurs as a result of warming of the sea surface caused by El Niño phenomenon, the water turns black which navigators in early days called tinta agua. The hull of passing ships become black as if painted with coal tar.

Unlike Peru we do not have rich upwelling for anchovies aggregation. In fact we can hardly trace the dulong-anchovy cycle. If we do, these are in pocket areas where we fish anchovies for local consumption, which is mainly for food.

On the first day the newly hatch fish enter the estuary, they are transparent and very tiny. You can hardly count how many individuals make 100 grams. It is at this stage that ipon is best eaten fresh with ginger, tomato and onion (kilawin). Ipon caught on the second day onward is usually made into bagoong, or cooked into torta, tamales (wrapped in banana leaves), or sinigang (broth). Old folks believe that ipon make them healthy and live long. They also believe in its aphrodisiac power, and why not? Spawning stimulates sex and growth hormones.

On the second and third day, as the fish continues to travel upstream and gain in size, they acquire spots, their body turning gray, and eyes and other body parts becoming prominent. By now their number has dwindled as fishing continues, and predators - other fishes, and birds - have their fill, and soon the whole school is thinned out and finally dispersed, with a measly number surviving to maturity. Here there are no longer traces of the ipon or any other species mixed in the school.

But this explanation coming from direct observation and testimonies of old folks is inadequate to tell us what really happens from spawning, migration to dispersal, movement from sea to river and back. We don't know the extent of distribution in the countless river systems in the world, the diversity of species of what generally is called ipon or dulong.

In 1992, a bill was filled in Congress to prohibit the catching of dulong, ipon, or any similar kind. I had the chance to read and comment on it. The rational is that ipon is actually a complex spawn aggregate, which contains the young of commercial species. It is the potential loss of these species the proposed law intends to prevent. It's like the law prohibiting the harvesting, sale and transport of bamboo shoot (labong). One shoot which is valued at 10 pesos grows into a pole in year's time with a value of 100 pesos.

But ipon fishing is an age long tradition, and tradition is very difficult to break. Even then, it is important to unlock the mystery of this fairy fish so that we can assign it into the ecosystem where it rightfully belongs, before satisfying man's fancy and unending appetite.~

Acknowledgement: Photos www.briancoad.com;  Wikimedia 

Part 1 - Rediscovering Folk Wisdom

Dr Abe V Rotor

Old folks believe that mushroom is spawned by lightning and thunder. Too early kite flying brings poor harvest. Rub salt on the cut end of fruits like guyabano and nangka to enhance ripening. Animals are uneasy before an earthquake. People who have large ears live longer. The leaves of acacia regularly fold at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, thus serving as timepiece of rural folks. 

Lightning is Nature's quickest way of fixing Nitrogen into Nitrates, A lightning such as this converts tons and tons of Nitrates which will dissolve in rain and brought down to earth. Nitrate (-NO3) is then absorbed and used by plants in the production of organic compounds which will then be shared through the food chain with other organisms. 

Don’t plant papaya on the front yard. We can only imaging the various reactions of people from both older and present generations on these and many other beliefs and practices.

Rediscovering indigenous knowledge and folk wisdom enlarges and enhances our history and tradition. There are those that are good materials for research. Those that we cannot explain scientifically are still valuable because they are part of our culture and they contribute to the quaintness of living.

Here are 20 cases the author wrote from experience and association with old folk, having been raised on the farm and worked in various field assignments.

1. Slow lead (Pb) poisoning - the case of a sickly little boy.  Here is a case of slow lead poisoning.  There was this sickly boy of five, and the kindly old family doctor was puzzled of his condition. One fine Sunday morning the doctor happened to drop at the boy’s residence.  While having coffee  with  the  family  the  doctor  exclaimed,  “Ah,  now  I know why my young  patient is sickly!”  It was like Archimedes who got out of the bathtub shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!” (I found it, I found it) He pointed at the gold lining on the rim of his coffee cup which has faded.  It means that the user has been slowly taking in the poisonous lead in the gold paint! On inspecting the other china the doctor found the same revealing condition.

As people move from the countryside to live in cities, among the risks they encounter is lead poisoning.  Our old folks seldom suffered from this malady because they were living in a more pristine environment, and at the dawn of modern technology. 

The first case of mass lead poisoning occurred among the Romans when they changed their cups and vessels from bronze to lead. Today it is estimated that over 400,000 children in the US have an excess of lead in their systems. This cumulative poisoning affects the brain, the nervous system, the blood, and the abdominal system characterized by severe stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, weakness and confusion combined with decreased alertness.  Lead in the bone marrow interferes with the formation of red blood cells as well as damaging existing ones leading to anemia, pallor and weakness, and to a severe extent, delirium, coma and even death.

Lead is generally used to fix many kinds of paints.  For years lead is mixed with gasoline to improve combustion and reduce engine knock.  Today the use of lead is strictly regulated all over the world. When buying paints for school use or as house paint, be sure to get one with a lead-free label. Use only unleaded gasoline. And fix that crumbling wall.  Get rid or at least minimize the intake of lead. Avoid as much as possible the following:

1. ·         Automobile exhaust fumes
2. ·         Industrial wastes and air pollutants
3. ·         Paint of toys, walls, and windowsill
4. ·         Eating food or liquor prepared in lead containers
5. ·         Prolonged job contact with lead paints, batteries, solder.
6. ·         Eating food tainted with lead passed on through the food chain. Kangkong (Ipomea aquatica) has high lead residue. The liver contains lead and other toxic metals like mercury and cadmium more than any part of the body.   

2. The case of the green and brown grasshoppers - are they of the same species, or different?

The old folks tell children these grasshoppers are one and same, and proceed to explain that the grasshopper is like the chameleon. They can change colors to mimic their environment.  It is a way of defense and offense - to escape their enemies and catch their unwary preys. Many organisms are masters of disguise.

Here are examples to illustrate this biological phenomenon.

1. Moths near industrial sites are darker than their counterparts in the countryside, mimicking the bark of trees and walls of buildings darkened by carbon dust.
2. The octopus is a master mimicker; it does not only change colors but patterns as well, sometimes assuming the likeness of other sea creatures, or a piece of coral or simply a colored landscape.
3. Nonpoisonous butterfly species resemble the poisonous species to escape predation. Examples are the nonpoisonous Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) resembles the poisonous Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Both are  identical that birds have learned to avoid eating both of them.   
4. The leaf-footed preying mantis is perfectly hidden among leaves; the walking stick looks like a piece of twig; the bagworm could be mistaken for a thorn.
5. The Sargassum fish is colored and shaped like the Sargassum, a red seaweeds that inhabits the lower depth of coral reefs.  They are among the dominant species of fish in the Sargasso Sea.

Let’s go back to the puzzle of the grasshopper.  In summer it is brown; during the rainy season, it is green.  As an entomologist I have observed the various coloration and patterns of the short-horned grasshopper (Oxya velox), as well as the long-horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera).  With the change of seasons, I would tell my students, just like the old folks told me when I was a kid, “They are one and same.”  

3. Old folks talk about living things resurrecting from the dead.  Is this true? 

They tell us of the magic of lizards growing new tails, crabs regaining lost claws, starfish arising from body pieces.  How can we explain these mysteries?

The biological phenomenon behind these stories is called regeneration. The male deer grows a new set of anthers each year; sea squirts and hydras are produced from tiny buds; the same way plants grow from cuttings.  New worms may regenerate from just pieces of the body; and some fish can sprout new fins to replace the ones that have been bitten off.

Experiments demonstrated that the forelimb of a salamander severed midway between the elbow and the wrist, can actually grow into a new one exactly the same as the lost parts.  The stump re-forms the missing forelimb, wrist, and digits within a few months.  In biology this is called redifferentiation, which means that the new tissues are capable of reproducing the actual structure and attendant function of the original tissues. 

Curious the kid I was, I examined a twitching piece of tail, without any trace of its owner. I was puzzled at what I saw.  My father explained how the lizard, a skink or bubuli, escaped its would-be predator by leaving its tail twitching to attract its enemy, while its tailless body stealthily went into hiding.  “It will grow a new tail,” father assured me. I have also witnessed tailless house lizards (butiki) growing back their tails at various stages, feeding on insects around a ceiling lamp. During the regeneration period these house lizards were not as agile as those with normal tails, which led me to conclude how important the tail is.

Regeneration is a survival mechanism of many organisms. Even if you have successfully subdued a live crab you might end up holding only its pinchers, and the canny creature has gone back in the water. This is true also to grasshoppers, they actually detach their legs in order to escape their enemies.

Another kind of regeneration is compensatory hypertrophy, a kind of temporary growth response that occurs in such organs as the liver and kidney when they are damaged. If a surgeon removes up to 70 percent of a diseased liver, the remaining liver tissues undergo rapid mitosis (multiplication of cells) until almost the original liver mass is restored.  Similarly, if one kidney is removed, the other enlarges greatly to compensate for its lost partner.

   

4. Nature medicine.  Can animals really heal themselves?

Old folks tell us of a number of cases animals can actually heal themselves.

• Dogs, deer, cattle, and the like, clean their wounds by licking them.  Their saliva contains natural antibiotics.  It is often that they deliberately expose their wounds to sunlight. Others like the muskrat seal its wounds with resin or gum.
• Domestic fowls and birds have the habit of preening to arrange their feathers in place, and to get rid of parasites and foreign matters. 
• Birds and animals bathe regularly, and these baths are of many varieties – water, sun (sun bath), mud (carabao and pigs), and dust (ground fouls).
• A wounded orangutan or gorilla will attempt to staunch the flow of blood with its hands, and will then close the hole with packing of astringent aromatic leaves.
• Old grizzly bears use the hot sulfur baths, which may alleviate the aches incident to age.
• A wolf bitten by rattlesnake chews snakeroot; a wild turkey during a rainy spell compels her babies to eat spicebush leaves.
• An animal with fever hunts up an airy, shady place near water and remains quiet, eating very little and drinking often.
• Female birds need lime to form eggshells, and it is a common thing to see pet birds eating cuttlebone.

When sick or wounded, wild creatures resort to the ancient remedies of nature: medicines, pure air and complete relaxation. This observation has inspired humans in the art of natural healing. To this day, barefoot doctors and spiritual healers (herbolarios) use many of the ways animals heal themselves. 

5. Is there really a white carabao? White elephant? White Rhino?

I’d like to relate a story about the mystical white carabao.

Albino tamaraw

(Internet)

Melecio (bless his soul), a long time co-worker in government told me how a white carabao got him into trouble in class. On the first day of classes his teacher in Grade 1 asked him, “What color has the carabao?”

 “White, ma’am,” he quipped for which he was punished after class even without getting a chance to explain.  The next meeting young Melecio was again asked of the same question, and the teacher got the same answer.  The teacher was infuriated. “Don’t come back to class unless you ‘produce’ your father,” roared the teacher, his voice reverberating on the flimsy bamboo walls of the village school. 

Melecio’s father explained to the teacher, “You see ma’am, Melecio has a white carabao he pastures everyday,” his father explained. The teacher did not know her biology, much less in treating a child with kindness.

We call animals that lack pigments albino, a genetic “fault” among animals like the carabao, rhino, and elephant. There are also albino moose, boa constrictor, mouse and many more in the animal kingdom. In fact this condition also affects man. I had a classmate in the elementary nicknamed White. He also had an albino sister, although both their parents are normal typical Filipinos. Albino humans are often mistaken to belong to the Caucasoid or white race, sometimes igniting debates on their parentage.

“Nature commits mistake, too.”  That’s how my genetics professor in college, Dr. Nemesio Mendiola, the country’s foremost geneticist, explained. “The genes that govern dark skin pigment (melanin) are dominant.  Nature saw to it that they are regularly included in the combination of gametes from the parents. But there are instances that these dominant genes fail to transcend from any of the parents so that it is the recessive albino gene that is expressed in the offspring, resulting to a pigmentless condition.  This renders the individual susceptible to the deleterious effects of heat and radiation.  In fact, an albino has difficulty seeing under bright light because the retina also lacks pigment that serves as natural shade.  Darwinian law of natural selection can explain the rarity of albinos in the animal world. Albinos have little chance to survive and reach maturity, which is nature’s way of correcting its own mistake.”

It is only through man’s intervention that albinos are given a chance to survive, giving them a place in his beliefs and culture. In fact, albino elephants are revered in India and Thailand.  In Greek mythology, King Minos was given a white bull by the gods, and for not following the gods’ wishes to have the beast sacrificed, he was punished by siring a son that is half-man and half-bull, called the Minotaur.

A figure of speech was developed with the term, white elephant. For example, an infrastructure that is idle is metaphorically called white elephant.     

            

6.  If you are hurt by sea urchin, immediately apply urine on the wound. 

In the absence of vinegar, calamansi, or lemon, urine is the last resort to relieve pain when you encounter a sea urchin (maritangtang, Ilk).  Sea urchins are found in shallow coral reefs and among sea grass.  The spines are so sharp, they get imbedded in the skin.  The remedy is to dissolve the spike by applying any acidic substance on the wound. The principle is that the acid reacts with calcium, neutralizing into salt. The blood then takes care in eliminating the salt from the wound and ultimately from the body, thus operation is seldom  needed.     

7.  Roosters are Nature’s wake up call. 

Notice that roosters crow almost at the same time as dawn approaches. Some crow at midnight though. They are fairly accurate in telling time, but at the height of Mt.Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991, roosters in Australia and China  behaved differently. Pyroclastic materials (volcanic ash) drifted into the atmosphere, blocking the sun and temporarily taking away the sense of time from these fowls. It was not unusual then to hear them crow at anytime of the day or night until the drift settled months after the eruption.

With our changing lifestyle, this natural rouser is likewise changing, especially the gamecock.  But on the farm where I live, the roosters still crow with a message –

 “Early to bed and early to rise,   

  Makes a person healthy and wise.”

8. If you accidentally touched a hot object, immediately press your affected fingers on your ear lobes.

By so doing you diffuse the heat from your fingers and get refreshed. The earlobe is usually cooler than any part of the body, so with the whole ear which works on the principle of a radiator. That’s why people who flare up develop red ears. (Pulang pula ang tainga). It is the same way the rabbit and the elephant release heat through their large ears. The earlobe is also less sensitive because it has very few nerves and blood vessels – which explains the universal practice of earlobe piercing and wearing of earrings.

9.  Control common insect pests with red pepper (siling labuyo).

These are the ways old folks make use of red pepper or siling labuyo (Capsicum frutescens) in controlling destructive insects.

·         To protect mungbeans from bean weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus), thoroughly dry some 8 to 10 ripe labuyo and place them in a tea bag.  Place the bag inside the glass jar or plastic container in which mungbean is stored.  Cover hermetically. Effective protection against the pest is from three to six months.  Just be sure the mungbean is well dried (14 percent moisture) before storage.     

·         When spraying garden plants, crush 5 to 10 pieces of ripe labuyo in one gallon of water (5 liters), and apply the solution with sprinkler like watering the plants.  Repeat every week until there are no signs of insects and other pests in your garden. You may add a pinch of powder soap, preferably natural soap (Perla) Note: Don’t apply on tomato, eggplant, potato, tobacco - and pepper itself.  These plants belong to the same family – Solanaceae – and may become infected by the mosaic virus the labuyo may be carrying.  Use it instead on other plants.

10.  Carabao’s milk is more nutritious than cow’s milk.

True.  The milk of carabao or water buffalo milk is richer than dairy cow’s milk. It is richer in all major nutrients and has higher amount of solids, which is important in creaming.  Philippine carabao's milk has the following nutrients and elements in percentage.

·      Fat  9.65  fat (4.5 higher than Jersey's cow's milk),

·      Protein 5.26,

·      Casein 4.24,

·      Lactose 5.29,

·      Total solids 20.36,

·      Chloride 0.083,

·      Calcium 0.216, and

·      Phosphorus 0.177. 

Buffaloes have a longer lactation period, and a greater percentage of milk produced (over 2,700 kg. per lactation and higher fat content).  Besides, they have much longer productive life.  However, buffaloes have longer dry period, longer gestation, an older age at first calving, and a longer calving interval, which, among other factors, make raisers prefer dairy cattle over buffaloes.

Philippine carabaos, produce the highest fat and total solids content than any domesticated buffaloes. Local soft white cheese is made from carabao’s milk following either the traditional method that produces inferior cheese with low quality, or the improved method which UPLB developed.  With the latter process, yield is tremendously increased and the keeping quality improved to keep the cheese longer.

Part 2 - Rediscovering Folk Wisdom

Dr Abe V Rotor

11. Without tasting it, you can tell if a lemonade needs more sugar.

Seeds of calamansi (Citrus microcarpa) sink to the bottom of the glass before sugar is added to the lemonade. As we add sugar, the seeds float. It is because the buoyancy (specific gravity) of the lemonade is increased.  Buoyancy is also explained by the fact that it is easier to swim in seawater than in the swimming pool.

By specific gravity of a liquid we mean the ratio of its density to that of water which is normally 1. This is determined by the use of hydrometer, the same instrument used in determining the concentration of alcohol, acids, oils and other liquids. The idea of buoyancy that led to our present knowledge of specific gravity came from the first true experimentalist, Archimedes during the golden age of Greek civilization. A story about his discovery was a hilarious one. All of a sudden he emerged from the bathtub and went through the streets shouting, “Eureka! Eureka!”

12. Beware of bats.  Bats swoop on unwary people walking in the field or on the street.  Old folks warn us not to go out at dusk or at night - and never alone.

Bats, the only true flying mammals are perhaps the most misunderstood creatures because of their ugly looks and enigmatic life embellished with superstitious beliefs and associated with fiction stories like Dracula, a bloodthirsty count-vampire in a world of the undead. Movies, cartoons, and children’s stories have projected a bad image of bats, giving us the impression they are enemies of mankind.   

The truth is that bats are harmless creatures, except for three known species called vampire bats that feed on the blood of animals. Seventy percent of the one thousand known species of bats live on insects as their daily diet. One bat can devour 1000 mosquitoes in just one hour. Insectivorous bats (curanatnit Ilk.) swoop down on flying insects in the dark which they detect by means of echolocation that works on radar principle, making it appear that they are attacking people when they get too close to them.

The bigger species of bat, 2 to 5 times larger than the insectivorous species feed on ripe fruits like banana, guyabano, mango, chico, including those of wild plants.  These are fruit bats or paniki which are hunted for food and for their destructive habits. On the other hand, bats are nature’s biological agents not only in controlling destructive insects, but in pollinating plants that bloom in the night, and in disseminating seeds of many plants. By carrying out these functions bats are crucial in maintaining the ecological balance of fragile ecosystems like the desert and chaparral.  Bat droppings accumulated for years in their cave dwellings make the best and safest organic fertilizer (guano).  Let us protect the bats instead; they are indeed man’s valuable friends.    

13.  The old faithful rice mill kiskisan lives!

It is enduring, and endearing as well, to millions of rice farmers, entrepreneurs and consumers all over the world, this universal machine that replaced hand pounding of rice.  Kiskisan continues to dominate local rice milling in spite of its low recovery which is about 50 percent, as compared with modern rice mills which deliver as high as 68 percent rice. But why is this late 18^th century machine still popular?

It is because the kiskisan is simple and practical to operate. It leaves no waste, unlike the cono or the rubber roller mills which separate the rice hull or chaff (ipa) which constitutes 25 percent of paddy rice or palay. The kiskisan automatically separates the milled rice from the by-product which is a composite mix of finely ground bran, rice germ (embryo), hull (ipa) and binlid or brokens – indeed a complete animal feed ideal for village use.

This is not the case with modern mills. The rice hull is thrown away, so with partly filled and immature grains.  The binlid is separated and the bran comes in two grades, requiring a complex operation and higher cost of milling.  Besides, these mills rarely operate on small scale.  The kiskisan does. Just feed into the hopper, say one-half cavan (25 kg) of palay, and pronto, you get your milled rice in half an hour. You may leave behind the by-product as milling fee.

Visit a kiskisan. It is the throbbing commercial part of the village - a mini-mall,  barangay style, that is. It is an institution of sort.  Surrounding the mill site is a   parking area of jeeps and tricycle, a flea market (talipapa), barbershop, variety or sari-sari store, and drugstore (botica). It is a meeting place (kita kits sa kiskisan, in modern parlance), where you pick up news and share stories. It is a center you sell, buy or exchange (barter) products and services.  You find your everyday needs, including the naturally rich kiskisan darak for your backyard chicken and pigs.     

14. The Bahay Kubo is an enduring symbol of food self-sufficiency, indigenous biodiversity, simplicity and quaintness of living and natural beauty.

Bahay Kubo (My Nipa Hut) is one of the most loved traditional songs. Our generation learned it in the elementary by heart.  Ironically not so many kids today are familiar with it.  It is good to rediscover the beauty and lesson of the song.   

Bahay kubo, hahit munti, ang halaman doon ay sari-sari. Singkamas at talong, sigidillas at mani, sitao, batao, patani. Kondol, patola, upo, kalabasa, at sa ka mayroon pa, labanos, mustasa.  Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya, at ang paligidligid ay linga.

These are main features of the song.   

1. ·     There are eighteen (18) plants, which are indigenous, mostly native varieties. (biodiversity)
2. ·     Many of the plants have medicinal values and are effective home remedies for common ailments (luya, sibuyas, bawang).
3. ·     The four kinds of vegetables are represented: leafy (mustasa), fruit (kamatis, talong, kalabasa), root (labanos, singkamas), seed (linga, patani, mani).
4. ·     Spices and condiments are included in the list (linga, luya, bawang)
5. ·     The plants have different planting and harvesting schedules, thus enhancing whole year round supply of vegetables, and the use of resources and family labor.
6. ·     The plants have different growing types or habits which means they occupy specific places and have space allocations. (viny, herb, bush).
7. ·     Nutrition-wise they provide the basic requirements for growing up and good health.
8. ·     The ambiance projected by the scene is green, tranquil, clean, shady and cool (environment-friendly).
9. ·     The garden exudes a feeling of self-sufficiency and offers a potential for livelihood.
10. ·     Simplicity is the key to a contented life (with least energy consumption, and amenities).
11. ·     Such a scene expands the imagination to include a backyard fishpond, chicken coop, orchard trees and ornamental plants, among others – all of these contribute to the enrichment of the Bahay Kubo, without modifying its basic concept and structure. 
12. ·     Although the song does not describe the nipa hut per se, the ambiance it creates produces a vivid imagery that compensate of its lack.

Folk wisdom tells us how good it is to live simply and naturally, eat properly, stay young, healthy and active, save and earn money, depend less on energy and imported goods, and enjoy being at home with the family. Bahay Kubo takes us closer to nature, to appreciate our culture, and leads us to the inner calling for peace, quiet and joy. 

15. Farmers in earlier times relied mainly on compost as fertilizer.  It is safe, and easy and cheap to produce.  Chemical fertilizers are a recent invention.

Composting is a traditional farm practice, and was perfected long time ago.   There are three components to produce ideal compost: animal manure (and chicken droppings), crop residues (hay and stalks, weeds, fruit peelings, etc), and loamy soil.  All you need to do is to make several layers of these materials one on top of another, either in the form of a pile (preferably in the rainy season), or in a shallow pit (for the dry season), of any dimension that is suitable. Install some bamboo tubes to serve as posts and  “breathers” to allow air circulation in the pile or pit. The breathers work like chimney.  Punch the nodes to make a continuous tube, and make several holes staggered along its length. Moisten the pile as needed.  Too much water is not advisable.

Composting also uses seaweeds (like Sargassum) that litter coastlines; scums and algae growing on lakes and rivers; rinds and peelings of cacao, coffee, pineapple, and the like; corn cobs and husk, rice stalk and rice hull ash in rice and corn lands.  Then we have a lot of coconut husk and leaves, and copra meal wastes in coconut areas; guano (bat droppings) in caves; and a long list of materials from wastes in fishery, slaughterhouses, food manufacturing.  Lest we forget, we are turning out every day tons and tons of biodegradable materials from our homes and factories.             

What really is the secret of compost in enriching the soil?  Here are the benefits.

1. ·     It contains both major and minor elements (chemical fertilizers are specific only to the elements they supply). 
2. ·     The release of nutrients is slow but continuous, allowing both crop and soil to adjust properly. 
3. ·     The organic content of compost improves tilth  (ease in cultivation), as well as the physical structure of the soil. 
4. ·     Compost enhances favorable microbiological condition of the soil.  Fifth, it improves retention of soil moisture.
5. ·     It makes working on the soil a lot easier because of its porous nature.
6. ·     It stabilizes soil acidity (pH).
7. ·     It is not only a good source of income; it is a dollar saver.
8. ·     Composting, sanitation and beautification complement one another.

16. Try these old folks’ ways of dealing with insect pests.

·         Lantana (Lantana camara) is planted along field borders and fences repel insects from destroying field crops.

1. ·     Makabuhay (Tinospora rumphii) chopped and scattered in the rice field  controls golden kuhol and insect pest.
2. ·     Ground seed cotyledon of botong (Barringtona asiatica) is fish poison.  It is applied in fishponds to rid the remaining fish and other predators before  stocking with fingerlings. 
3. ·     The sap of tubang bakod (Jatropha curcas) controls the vector or Schistozomiasis – a snail (Oncomelana quadrasi)
4. ·     Eucalyptus trees around the house keep off flies and mosquitoes.  The menthol oil freshens the air.
5. ·     Garlic and onions inter planted with garden crops reduce incidence of  pests.  
6. ·     Teabag of black pepper is safer than naphthalene balls in protecting clothes and books, including the felt linings of piano.
7. ·     Clay from anthill (punso) is used to seal earthen jars. The clay is actually the excrement of termites, thus keeping them away from the stored goods. 

 17. Try also these old folks’ ways of dealing with destructive animals.

·         To prevent goats from biting the trunk of trees, make a slurry of white latex paint mixed with goats’ urine and feces, and paint it all around the trunk around one and one-half meters high.  

·         Goats are often left stray in the village. To be sure they don’t get through  fences in the neighborhood, they are restrained by a triangular hame made of bamboo worn around the neck that is conveniently attached or removed. However, the whereabouts of the animals must be monitored because the hame may get entangled with wire or get stuck in the fence itself.   

·         Place piece of wood (2” x 2”) that directly inclines on top of an empty barrel. Hang at the end  a bait, say a piece of meat or cheese. This will attract the rats and may fall into the barrel. To get rid of the trapped rats use boiling water.

·         Monitor lizards (bayawak) are caught by an ingenious local invention. A sturdy and flexible bamboo is forcibly bent across the path of this predator. When it attacks the live chick used as a bait, the trigger mechanism releases the bamboo’s full force that can break the back of the lizard. 

·         Fowls are trapped in bamboo baskets tilted open on one side by a post. On entering, the post collapses trapping the fowls inside the basket. NOTE: This technique may not work after some time; the fowls may soon learn to evade the trap. (Pavlov’s conditioning)  

19.  How do you catch a monkey?

Bore a small hole into a young coconut (buko), about an inch in diameter, or just enough for the monkey to insert its hands with outstretched fingers. Hang the nut among the trees where monkeys abound.  A monkey comes around, inserts its hand into the nut and gathers the meat. True to the characteristic of a monkey it will not open its fist in order to escape. Now it is the trapper’s move. This is one for the fable

18. Oil from plants lighted the homes of our ancestors.

Other than the coconut which is the main source of oil in the Philippines, there are plants growing in the wild that yield lamp oil, among them is a large tree called palomaria or bitaog (Calophyllum inophyllum) whose large seed is a rich source of oil called domba or “laurel-nut” oil. The seed or kernel yields 70 to 75 percent oil, and is rich in resin (28.5 percent) making bitaog oil an excellent natural varnish. The resin however, is poisonous. Old folks also use bitaog bark for tanning because of its high tannin content (19.12 percent) 

Another main source of oil is lumbang (Aleurites moluccana).  Its seeds yield 62 percent lamp and industrial oil. Quite unfamiliar to many is hanga (Pittosporum resineferum) , a small tree whose mature berries directly burn with bluish flame. It is plentiful in the highlands, such as in Benguet.  One can visit the collection of hanga trees at the DENR field station in Loakan, near the Baguio airport.

Among the alternative sources of oil which are being investigated in the light of spiraling oil price, are the following species of Family Euphorbiaceae, to which the rubber tree belongs.

·         Soro-soro (Euphorbia neriifolia),

·         Gatas-gatas (E. pilulifera),

·         Consuelda (E. tirucalli),

·         Physic nut (Jatropha curcas),

·         Castor-oil plant or tangantangan (Ricinus communis)        

20. Ethnic music makes a wholesome life; it is therapy.

Have you ever noticed village folks singing or humming as they attend to their chores? They have songs when rowing the boat, songs when planting, songs of praise at sunrise, songs while walking up and down the trail, etc.  Seldom is there an activity without music. Even the sounds of nature to them are music.

According to researcher Leonora Nacorda Collantes, of the UST graduate school, music influences the limbic system, called the “seat of emotions” and causes emotional response and mood change. Musical rhythms synchronize body rhythms, mediate within the sphere of the autonomous nervous and endocrine systems, and change the heart and respiratory rate.  Music reduces anxiety and pain, induces relaxation, thus promoting the overall sense of well being of the individual.

Music is closely associated with everyday life among village folks more than it is to us living in the city. The natives find content and relaxation beside a waterfall, on the riverbank, under the trees, in fact there is to them music in silence under the stars, on the meadow, at sunset, at dawn. Breeze, crickets, running water, make a repetitious melody that induces sleep.  Humming indicates that one likes his or her work, and can go on for hours without getting tired at it. Boat songs make rowing synchronized.  Planting songs make the deities of the field happy, so they believe; and songs at harvest are thanksgiving. Indeed the natives are a happy lot. ~

Recycling Farm Wastes

Dr Abe V Rotor

Home made compost from plant residues. Lagro, QC 

1. Crops leave a lot of waste after harvest. The most common wastes for composting are rice straw, corn stover, peanut and mungo hay, banana stalk, ipil-ipil, wood and coconut by-products.

• We are getting in return very little of the value of the fertilizer we apply to our crops. We don’t even get half the value of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, the most important ingredients of chemical fertilizers.
30 to 60 % for N,
10 to 35 % for P, and
15 to 30% for K.

• For rice, there are more nutrients removed from the soil that go into the straw than the grain. Here is a comparison. (Grain versus straw, kg nutrient/MT)
Nitrogen: 10.5 - 7.0
Phosphorus: 4.6 – 2.3
Potassium: 3.0 – 17.5
Magnesium: 1.5 – 2.0
Calcium: 0.5 - 3.5

• Rice straw contains 85-90 percent of potassium (K) of the biomass. Thus much greater amounts of K must be applied to maintain soil supply where straw is removed.

2. Farm animals are ideal recyclers.
• Our Philippine carabao is the most efficient feed converter. Of the ruminant animals it has a digestive system that can extract the most nutrients from roughage. Thus it can survive long dry spells, and its manure is excellent fertilizer.

• Native chickens are more resistant than pure breeds to pest and unfavorable weather. They thrive on palay and corn; they forage in the field, and glean on leftovers. They are therefore, more economical to produce, tastier and free of antibiotic residues and artificial growth hormones.

• Goats thrives on farm by-products and unwanted plants. Practically anything that grows in the field is food for goats. Goats however, must be tethered or kept in pens.

• Another recycling project is vermiculture, the culture of earthworms for composting, bait for fishing, and source of protein supplement in feeds. Earthworm castings are excellent soil conditioners for ornamentals and garden crops.

3. Recycle wastes from market and kitchen. Vegetable trimmings, and waste from fish and animals require efficient collection, segregation and processing into biogas and organic fertilizer.

Fruits in season that otherwise go to waste are made into table wine of different flavors. Typhoon or drought affected sugarcane make excellent natural vinegar and molasses.

4. There are many plants growing in the field that are taken for granted or considered weeds. They are Nature’s Gifts. Tap them instead. Examples: Lantana camara as natural pesticide; oregano as natural medicine for cough and sore throat; chichirica as drug against cancer; pandan as spice and condiment; eucalyptus as liniment and cold drops; bunga de China for toothpaste, lagundi for fever and flu.

5. Water harvesting and conserving: Runoff water is waste. Small Water Impounding Projects (SWIP) are popular in many parts of the world where water is seasonal. Bigger ones can even generate electricity for the locality. The Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture has developed the technology on water impounding.
x x x

NOTE: Please add more information to further enrich this article, particularly on those practices in farm recycling indigenous in your place.

Crucible

Painting and Verse by Abe V Rotor

"I'm Icarus -  which way should I go -

fly into the light of the sun,

from the bowels of the earth?"

"Just don't look up, or look down,

follow the feathered kind, my son."

Helios waits for the bold,

and below Vesuvius of old.

Silence, but the searing heat 

and Daedalus' lament. ~

Let's control the fruit fly: cosmopolitan pest of fruits and vegetables

Dr Abe V Rotor

Fruit fly (Dacus dorsalis (Family Tephritidae, Order Diptera) on banana and mabolo.  
Note the nature of damage, and size of the mature insect.  

Old folks used to tell us kids in our time that the first rain in summer brings in the dangaw (Ilk) or fruit fly rendering native fruits, like duhat, macopa and guava, unfit to eat.  True enough the first bite reveals tiny punctures, and when fully ripe. tunnels with tiny maggots squirming and catapulting to our disgust. We would throw away the whole fruit, and spit what we had hastily eaten. 

But in those days the fruit fly had few hosts, until new varieties were developed and introduced. These became readily vulnerable, triggering the buildup and spread of the pest.  New frontiers were opened, more kinds of crops cultivted, more varied agricultural practices developed breaking away from the natural cycle of the environment. Today the fruit fly has become a cosmopolitan pest of orchard, garden and field crops.    

What a havoc the fruit fly can create on a mango tree laden with fruits.  Or macopa in season. Guava. Caimito and the like. Orchards and plantations are ruined by this pest, a direct relative of the housefly. 

And that's just part of  a larger ruin. Trellises of ampalaya, squash, cucumber, and fields of  pepper, tomato, eggplant, and other vegetables virtually go to waste. 

Unless heavy doses of insecticide are applied  - poison that coats whole fruits to repel the gravid female from laying eggs, poison to cover whole fields so that no place is left to harbor the pest for a second round of attack.  And poison that can penetrate the ensconced maggots before it could do further damage. This is the most potent pesticide ever formulated.  It is systemic poison because it circulated through the plant sap, like blood, and any insect that attacks from the inside or outside is certain to die.  

It is a fact that poisons in food, air and many items cause cancer.  Pesticides are culprits to many cases of cancer.  So with kidney and liver problems, fatal or lifelong liability. Pesticides being mainly nerve poisons affect the brain and the senses, and therefore behavior and quality of life in general.  

We relate the issue of pest to global warming which has disturbed our climatic pattern and modified geography. Rainfall has become erratic,  Seasons unsuspectingly come early or late.  Sometimes there is summer. Force majeure is more often and severe. Thus the need of new agricultural strategies.  

Now we have greenhouses of tomato, melon, bell pepper, but  greenhouse products are more expensive than those produced on open fields. Geneticists came up with Genetically Modified crops - like FlavrSavr tomato.Genetically modified organisms or GMOs are dangerous to health and human development, particularly among children. That is why GMOs are branded Frankenfoods (from Frankenstein, the man-made monster in Mary Shelley's novel of the same title.) 

The fruit fly is not merely a pest.  It is a element that has sown destruction to agriculture, and therefore to the economy. It is changing the way we live. Let's control it before it does more harm.        

Let's control the fruit fly (not to be mistaken for the Drosphilla melanogaster), that has evolved into  several species under the genera Bactrocera, Dacus and Ceratitis.  They have become major pest worldwide of orchards, farms and garden, on avocado, banana, citrus, cacao, coffee, cucumber, guava, papaya, pepper, eggplant, tomato, melon, cucumber, and a host of other plants - not to mention the most important host, the mango.   

Let's control the fruit fly by cutting off its life cycle, before it lays eggs on fruits  - young and ripe -  that ultimately causes them to fall or rot on the tree; and in its feeding introduces bacteria and fungi that exacerbate damage to the tree and plantation, not to mention the harmful effect it has to humans. That by keeping strict sanitation, collecting damaged fruits as possible breeding material, and eliminating alternate hosts to bridge the next season, its population can be kept on a safe level. 

Let's control the fruit fly by bagging the fruits early  with paper bag, cut newspaper, and other suitable materials, before the gravid female oviposits on the fruits, popular a practice on mango, nangka, cucumber, ampalaya, and other crops that are convenient to protect in this laborious means. Bagging also protects fruits from other pest, injury, excessive sunlight, and reduces blemishes and deformities.     

Let's control the fruit fly by prudent use of chemical pesticide, applying it only as a last resort after all safer means are exhausted, and applying only at a threshold level determined collectively by growers in the area. Overuse of chemicals have spawned mutants in the pest population leading to increased resistance among survivors which they pass on to the next generation. Thus higher dosage or more potent chemicals are required in succeeding seasons.   

Let's control the fruit fly through cooperative farming, following specific schedules of planting, cultivation, and harvesting, among other cultural practices, like crop diversification, use of resistant varieties, roughing affected plants and residues and burning them.  Quarantine control is easier to implement, so with other government rules, and specifications of products for the local and foreign markets. 

Let's control the fruit fly to bring down the price of fruits and vegetables at affordable level, assure quality products and reduce crop loss, increase income of producers and processors, and reduce dependence on imported fruits and vegetables. And encourage backyard self-sufficiency, promote proper nutrition and good health.   

Let's control fruit flies with the same resolve in suppressing global scourges of crops (tungro of rice, blight of cereals, borers of corn),  and livestock (foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease), epidemics affecting human populations (HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Avian Flu), through personal initiative and or in support to national and international organizations. And through research and extension, through the academe and R & D institutions.~ 

 Cucurbit fruit fly (Dacus cucurbitae), representation of  a typical fruit fly (Dacus sp); baiting fruit flies with diluted vinegar in plastic bottle with punched holes to let attracted fruit flies to enter and get trapped), bagging of green mango fruits. Acknowledgment: Internet www infonet-biovision.org