For garlic farmer Marilou A. Alina, there was never a shortage of garlic in Batanes.
Ever since the pandemic hit the country hard in 2020, the 58-year-old farmer has been receiving a steady supply of planting materials from DA as part of the nationwide Plant, Plant, Plant program. This support serves as a crucial measure to alleviate the pandemic’s effects on local food supply and livelihood of farmers.
As a farmer beneficiary of the DA-BAR funded project titled Support to Mass Production of Batanes Red and Itbayat White Garlic Quality Planting Material through Seed Production Technique in Batanes, Alina has not only received garlic planting materials but also assorted vegetables such as squash, cabbage, bitter gourd, carrots, and cauliflower, all of which she cultivates for personal consumption and selling.
“They always give us planting materials for free,” she said.
According to Alina, she and her fellow farmers return the planting materials they received from DA after each harvest. Recently, Alina was granted 20 kilograms of garlic planting materials from DA, which she duly paid for following a fruitful harvest for expansion of garlic production.
The two varieties
Among the two garlic varieties introduced in the project, Alina and the other farmers on Batan island exhibit a preference for Batanes Red. Nonetheless, both varieties demonstrate efficient agronomic characteristics.
In addition to exhibiting favorable agronomic characteristics, the selection of these two varieties was based on their ability to produce well-formed medium to large cloves, resistance to pests and diseases, and their recommended seeding rate of 400-700kg of seeds per hectare, taking into account bulb size and planting distance.
Training and farming activities
Prior to planting the Batanes Red variety, Alina participated in various capacity buildings sponsored by DA. These training sessions covered topics such as fertilizer application, seed production, postharvest handling, marketing strategies, and techniques for cultivating garlic. Equipped with the appropriate knowledge and techniques, she recently achieved a garlic harvest of 83kg from the 20kg of planting materials given to her.
“The 20kg goes to the landowner, 20kg to DA, then we sell the remaining,” said Alina.
Following the harvest, Alina, like other garlic farmers in Batanes, adheres to the traditional method of storing garlic bundles in well-ventilated spaces, arranged in rows with the support of bamboo sticks or lumber. She also periodically smokes them to drive away insects that may cause damage to the bulbs.
However, her garlic cultivation is not all sunshine and harvest.
"If I don't use smoke as a preventive measure, thrips could infest my garlic," Alina said when asked about pest management.
Garlic thrips are small insects that feed on garlic and other Allium crops. They cause damage by sucking plant fluids, resulting in silver or whitish streaks on the leaves. Severe infestations of thrips can lead to stunted growth and reduced bulb size.
She explains that thrips are the ones responsible for starting infestations on her garlic plants in the fields, leading to their presence when the garlic is moved to storage. At present, she chooses not to use any organic pesticides or sprays on her garlic crops to tackle the thrips problem.
Fruits of their labor
Alina shared that she and her husband personally plant the garlic, with her husband doing the plowing while she cleans and sells them, bringing them to the collection point of the local market. Currently, they sell their garlic at the local market for PhP 200 per kilo.
"We do everything ourselves," Alina said.
She admitted that she prices them higher compared to other farmers as she desires fair compensation for the labor, she and her husband put in to grow the garlic.
With the project’s completion on 31 December 2022, the project has brought immense support and valuable capacity-building opportunities to garlic farmers in Batanes. As a result, they can now look forward to reaping greater yields and higher profits from their garlic crops.