Philippine-German Relations (VIII)

    Klaus

December 6, 2007 by Klaus  
Filed under Klaus

You might miss the continuing chronology today. Don’t worry: coming soon! My today’s write up came into being while driving to Buda to Father Franco with our group last Sunday. When I watched all the nice fruits and vegetables growing in this place near to the border to Bukidnon, I remember the Philippine-German potato stories:

Unlike rice and corn (as Hermogenes Bacareza explains, p 253)which have been the staple food for Filipinos, the potato has been a “luxury” food eaten by “the wealthy classes” or served only during fiestas and banquets in the Philippines.

However, the Federal Republic of Germany has encouraged the Filipinos to take steps to develop this crop, especially in areas where rice production is not possible. In August 1977 the “Philippine-German White Potato Seed Production Program” was launched in the Benguet province with Dr. Claus Dieter Schultz and Valentino Balaoing as Project Managers.

The program has trained potato specialists and technicians in the various disciplines in seed potato research, seed propagation, seed control, storage and grading as well as seed certification. It has acquainted farmers and cooperatives on proper farm management, crop rotation and seed potato multiplication.

(To be continued!)

About the Author:  Klaus is from Germany, but has been living in the Philippines since the late 1990’s. Klaus is a journalist by trade, having written for a number of newspapers, studied also Publishing House Management and Marketing and has also been a Radio Host here in the Philippines.