Members of the
Rootcrops Farmers Association in Laurel, Batangas were capacitated on
the value addition of Ube
(purple yam) in a technology training conducted by the Department of
Science and Technology
(DOST)-Batangas in partnership with the Local
Government Unit of Laurel, Batangas (LGU-Laurel) through the Office of
the Municipal Agriculturist, held at Brgy. San Gregorio, Laurel, Batangas, last
May 4.
Thirty-five farmer
members of the association participated in the
training, which aimed to
increase the profitability
of ube, make value-added
products from ube part of
LGU-Laurel’s banner products, and develop sustainable agriculture-based
enterprises. They were trained in processing ube
jam and ube chips as value-added products from
ube.
A discussion on
ube, its in-demand varieties, health benefits,
and product applications
was provided to the participants to level off their
understanding of ube processing technologies. Actual processing followed
after the discussion, and
participants had the opportunity to do it themselves.
Mr. Romel M. Felismino
and Ms. Claire S. Zubia,
University Researchers at
the Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of the Philippines
Los Baños, facilitated
these activities.
Meanwhile, an
awareness seminar on
Basic Food Hygiene was
also incorporated into the
training to ensure the association’s compliance
with food safety requirements. Topics covered
during the discussion
were sanitary permits,
health certificates, quality and protection of food,
primary production, establishment (design of
facilities and equipment),
training and competence,
establishment maintenance, cleaning and disinfection, pest control,
personal hygiene, control
of the operation, product
information and consumer awareness, and the
special provisions of P.D. 856. Mr. John Maico M.
Hernandez, a DOST-CALABARZON Food Safety
Team member, served as
the resource speaker.
Trained farmer
members are expected to
continue producing these
value-added products
from ube as their agriculture-based enterprise. The
official launching of the
products produced will be
during the LGU-Laurel’s
Farmer’s Festival this
May.
Note to editors:
DOST-CALABARZON is
one of the regional offices
of the Department of Science and Technology and
is located at Jamboree
Road, Brgy. Timugan, Los
Baños, Laguna. For more
information, you may visit
us on Facebook at facebook.com/dostcalabarzon
or website www.region4a.
dost.gov.ph. You may also
reach us at parcu@ro4a.
dost.gov.ph
