Mas masustansya! Nograles promotes adlai as alternative staple food crop

By Prince Golez

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles is promoting adlai as an alternative staple food and as a source of livelihood for farmers, indigenous peoples, rebel returnees, and those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Nograles, cabinet officer for the Regional Development and Security in Caraga region, said adlai could be a “game-changer” to combat hunger and poverty.

“Adlai is more nutritious than corn and brown and white rice,” the Palace official said, adding that its propagation is appropriate for upland and highland areas in Mindanao classified as food insecure.

The grain variety is popular in Bukidnon and many areas in Region 10 and is picking up in Region 11 as part of efforts involving the Regional Task Force Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Like corn and other rice varieties, adlai, also called Chinese Pearl Barley or Jobs’ Tears because of its tear-like shaped grains, is a type of long-stemmed crop that grows in tropical areas in Southeast and South Asia.

In the Philippines, cracked adlai grains are more commonly found because of the milling processes typical for the country.

Citing the Department of Agriculture (DA), Nograles said that adlai is ideal for inter-cropping with other plants and does not need additional water irrigation as it can survive in slope areas.

His office, he also said, is coordinating with the DA for assistance in propagating adlai and in allocating additional funds to buy seedlings that will be distributed to farmers and other beneficiaries in Caraga and in other areas in Mindanao.

The post Mas masustansya! Nograles promotes adlai as alternative staple food crop first appeared on Latest Philippine politics news today.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)