Some Good Alternatives to Rice

With the rising prices of rice, experts have found a good way for Filipino households to keep up with the spiraling cost of rice nowadays. There are actually eight good (if not better) food alternatives that they can set on their tables instead of the calorie-rich staple, according to a crops expert.

Dr. Jocelyn Eusebio, director of the crops research division of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, is suggesting cassava, sweet potato, taro, potato, tugui, nami, saba banana and white corn as crop substitutes, which are in fact "cheaper and more nutritious."

Eusebio made the recommendation on Wednesday during the monthly press briefing hosted by the Department of Science and Technology in Quezon City.

Although Eusebio said the country has not been facing a rice crisis, she stressed that Filipinos could still tap a wider range of food choices to take care of their nutrition.

While rice could contribute 53 percent of energy, 37 percent of protein and 29 percent of iron to the body, one could get adequate amounts of nutrients from the eight "neglected crops," Eusebio pointed out.

"They are cheaper to produce and buy as well. Even households could plant them in their backyards," Eusebio said.

She noted the sufficiency of the country’s supply of these crops to significantly reduce hunger.
Planting materials can be sourced from various government agencies such as the Visayas State University- Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center, Bureau of Plant Industry and the Department of Agriculture.

In 2006 alone, the country has produced 2.29 million metric tons of saba, which is a good source of protein, potassium, calcium, carbohydrates, fats, calories and fiber, according to Eusebio.
The banana variety, which accounted for 34 percent of the total banana production two years ago, is widely grown in Region 11, Region 12 and the Cagayan Valley.

Eusebio also noted an increased demand for white corn in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, by 38 percent and 42 percent, respectively from 1990 to 2003.

White corn, an energy-dense food mainly harvested from the fields of Mindanao, gives more calcium, beta carotene and protein than rice, according to the crops expert.

A major product in Mindanao, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Central Visayas, the cassava gives 145 kcal per 100 grams. Eusebio pegged the production cost at P1 per kilo.

Taro or "gabi," nami (wild yam), tugui and potatoes are also good sources of carbohydrates, giving 78 to 110 kcal per 100 grams of each root crop.

But Eusebio admitted that there must be an intensive advocacy for these food alternatives in order to relieve the Filipinos' dependence on rice.

DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro agreed, saying that it would take time to convince Filipinos to shift from rice to these crops. "We can't change their food habits overnight... it needs a lot of advocacy," she added.

In the same press conference, weather experts announced that the weather would be favorable for agriculture, particularly for rice production and predicted a "generally" normal rainfall in the next five months.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration Services (PAGASA) predicted normal to above normal rainfall from May to September.

"There is a favorable outlook for agriculture, particularly for rice production," said Dr. Prisco Nilo, Pagasa director, noting that there would be a lull of the monsoon rains for a few weeks in July.

But he added that the amount of rainfall would still be within the normal range. The Pagasa predicted the onset of the rainy season between the middle of May and the first week of June, with the start of the southwest wind pattern in the first half of May.

Nilo placed the peak of the rainy season in July and August and expected the monsoon to end by the end of September, in time for harvest.

The weather bureau is expecting a maximum of 15 tropical cyclones in the next five months, with three or four in September.