Vegetable Production from Seedlings: The Next Big Thing in High Value Market – The growing of vegetable form seedlings is foreseen to become the next big thing in high value farming in the Philippines even as the seedling growing technique is now more popular in more developed countries like Taiwan.
From seedlings, farmers get better harvest. This is the reason why more progressive countries are already into it. It’s faster to deliver products to the market, and it’s 30 days off the farmer’s load.
The growth of crops from seedlings had widely eliminated risk of crop failure. Crops transplanted from seedling trays easily row as the seedlings retain all their root systems and are not cut during the transfer, thereby enabling plants to grow faster without the transition period.
The East West Seed Company, Inc. has opened this seedling segment last July after opening an E1.68 greenhouse and technology demonstration facility in San Rafael, Bulacan. Current varieties that that are now for ready for transplanting are pepper, eggplant, ampalaya, cauliflower, sweet corn, and Sinta papaya.
Vegetable production is still a viable livelihood business for enterprising entrepinoy. Why? The market for high-value crops – fruits and vegetables – is foreseen to grow with the country’s growing population. And consumers are now more conscious on the health benefits of the intake of vegetables and fruit compared to that of meat products.