Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
To augment income, Filipino farmers need to experiment. A few of these experiments may be successful but most may fail. The best recourse: learn from the experiments of other farmers.
For instance, milk production of cattle can be increased if the animals are fed with jackfruit. That was what the couple from Claveria, Misamis Oriental found out by accident, according to a report released by the National Dairy Authority (NDA).
Rodrigo Dumaluan and his wife Magdalena started raising cows in 2006. It was Magdalena’s idea to include cattle in their farm because she grew up in a dairy farm. The couple raised the animals near the jackfruits mixed with other fruit trees.
“They noticed that the animals frequently stayed under the jackfruit trees and started eating the leaves and fruits that they can reach. They feed on the fallen fruits on the ground,” the NDA report said.
The couple thought that cattle, like human beings, found the fruit delicious. So they started collecting the fruits, chopping them, and feeding the whole fruit (including its rind). Jackfruit became an addition to their usual feeding regimen which included chopped corn, roughage, and concentrates. “They found out that milk started to increase with constant supply of jackfruit in the feedstuff,” the NDA report said.
In the past, jackfruits are harvested when they are already matured. “But since they observed that the animals feed on them even when the fruits are not yet ripe, plus the added benefit of increased milk production, they prioritized to supply it as feedstuff to their herd,” said the NDA report.
The Dumaluans don’t know what made the cattle produce more milk. It maybe because of the protein found in the seeds of the fruit or the latex in the sap or the sweetness in the flesh of the fruit.
They may not discover the secret but one thing is sure: their cattle produce a good volume of milk. As of the report was written, the couple has 15 dairy animals and 9 milking cows. Most of the animals are way past the peak of milk production and ready to dry — and yet the herd produces 80 liters of milk — or an average of 8.8 liters per cow per day.
One good thing about raising cattle is that the animals are good sources of organic fertilizer. “The Dumaluan’s application of organic fertilizer from cow manure has decreased their expenses by 50% as compared to using commercial fertilizer,” the NDA report said.
Meanwhile, many rice farmers in the country still consider golden apple snail. After all, they feed on anything. They can live for two to six years. Adults mate any time of the day, usually among crowded plants where there is continuous water supply throughout the year. A female snail lays 200 to 500 eggs at a time, and between 1,000 to 1,200 eggs during one month.
To control golden kuhol, as it is commonly known, Filipino farmers use pesticides. But in Malaysia, farmers control the snails simply by using rotten jackfruit as bait. This method has proven to be “highly successful.” A paper presented during a workshop convened by the Taiwan-based Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) shares the following steps:
1. Collect the rotten jackfruit to be used as bait. Select those freshly rotted fruits which have a strong smell.
2. Choose a suitable spot and place the bait. The spot should be a place with running water, populated with golden snails, and not hard when it comes to collecting the snails. Be careful not to submerge the bait.
3. Leave the bait overnight.
4. Inspect the spot in the morning. Collect the snails that have gathered on and around the jackfruit and destroy them.
5. Replace the rotten jackfruit with new bait, if and when necessary.
Jackfruit (scientific name: “Artocarpus heterophyllus”) is called a variety of names around the world. The English one,jackfruit, is generally cited as deriving from the Malayalam “chakka” or “cakkai” via the Portuguese “jaca,” the name for it used by the physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta in his 1563 book.
Like most tropical fruits, Westerners considered jackfruit as somewhat weird and exotic. It is enormous and prickly on the outside and it looks somewhat like the controversial durian An American journalist describes jackfruit in these words: “The ripe fruit smells like rotting onions from the outside, but the fruit flesh inside smells like banana or pineapple.”
Jackfruit is a versatile fruit that has numerous commercial and non-commercial uses. Its wood is also used for furniture and clothing. It is a cure for some illness. The ripe fruit is used as dessert in the form of sweet delicacy.
