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Sayote: survivors vegetable

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (Feb. 14)— The sayote may not be as popular as the other vegetables produced in the Cordillera, it served an important role in the survival of the region during calamities. Sayote was used to help victims in the areas affected by the 1990 killer earthquake, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, and the recent calamity that affected the provinces of Quezon, Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

Sayote is also the only sustainable vegetable in the market because of its availability through out the year, hence, earning the term green gold. The cheapest vegetable in the market, sayote is grown especially in the Benguet municipalities of Kibungan, Atok, Kapangan, Tuba and La Trinidad.

In a NORDIS interview with Jerry Calasiao, 28, a farmer of Sitio Gayasi, Wangal in La Trinidad, he said in the vernacular, “napili mi ti sayote nga imula ditoy ayanmi ta bassit ti magastos ken bumayag pay, saan ka a mula a mula a kasla kadagiti dadduma a nateng nga agmula basta malpas ti apit”. (We chose to plant sayote because of the minimal expense on farm inputs. Its lifespan is also long, unlike other vegetables which require re-planting after harvest time.)

Sayote is still the best vegetable for us because it’s harvestable weekly and can sustain our daily needs, he added.

According to him, sayote survives 15 months before it is replaced. “We usually use three kinds of fertilizers which is triple 14, chicken dung, and Viking for better produce. Farmers can harvest 20-25 plastic sacks of sayote weekly with equivalent price of P1,500 to P2,000 depending on the market price per kilo,” he added. Sayote prices usually increase during Christmas and summer.

He added, “Ditoy kami met a kumita ti bassit no summer ken no adda bagyo ta bassit ti apit nga apan jay palengke gamin ket sarado ti Halsema highway. (Farmers earn more during summer and during typhoon months because few sayote products reach the market. The Halsema Highway also closes during typhoons due to land slides).

Irrigation for the Gayasi sayote comes from the Balili River, which in fact contains additional fertilizers (due to wastes). The highest sayote price reaches P17 to P20 per kilo. Farmers claim that sayote price is at its lowest at 40 centavos when the products from the different municipalities are abundant.

Roberto Calpasi, a farmer of Atok, and Manuel Fermin, a farmer of Kapangan, claim that Benguet farmers failed to realize the importance of sayote in their faming livelihood. What they have in mind is the “tsamba system,” which happens once in a blue moon. In this system, the farmer’s income is dictated by the fluctuation prices of vegetables in the market.

“Dakkel met laeng ti kuwarta ditoy sayote. Mabalin pay a maminduwa nga agapit iti maysa a domingo no nalawa ti garden mo. Ken mabayag pay saka agmula manen, isu a minus gastos ken bannog”. (There is also money in sayote. You can harvest twice a week if you have a wide sayote garden. You have less expense and minimized effort in sayote production.)

Practical vegetable

Jasmin Diclas, 21, a student of Easter College at the same time involved in sayote farming, claims that farmers choose sayote because it is appropriate for the mountainous areas in Gayasi. Many students are involved in sayote farming to support their studies, as payment for their tuition fees and daily expenses. “It also trains us to be independent”, she said.

Diclas added that they also encounter problems, such as times when sayote fruits and leaves grow only the size of bitter gourd or ampalaya.

During the harvest, farmers usually hire two persons to be paid at P5 per plastic sack. For farmers whose fields are located far down the creek, they utilize the tram line of Doming Angkil, paying the latter P3 per plastic sack. Earlier, without the tram line, farmers had to carry their products for some distance before reaching the market.

Best sayote

Gayasi of barangay Wangal is the sayote capital of La Trinidad. Diclas and Calasiao claim that Wangal still produces the best sayote sold in Baguio and Benguet. Being near the market and trading post, their products are less damagerd during transport, they said.

Sayote farmers said that programs that will help improve their sayote production and marketing of their products, will surely help. # Johnny Fialen for NORDIS

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