Kamote: Poor Man’s Staple Food

The lowly rootcrop is a lifesaver to many families in the Cordillera.

BY Johnny Fialen
Northern dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat

BAGUIO CITY — In the Cordillera mountain region and adjacent provinces, kamote or sweet potato is the staple food of most villagers, especially those living far from the provincial centers. It is the only reliable crop in times of drought, typhoons, as well as in times of economic crisis. 

Kamote (Ipomea Batatas) is a common substitute food for rice and corn especially for families living below the poverty line. This crop does not require intensive care since it grows on the ground and can survive in poor soil. It contains all kinds of essential amino acids to supplement other plant proteins.

Elleo Docio, 56, a farmer who lives in a mountain village called Boundary in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, said kamote is their staple food in the mountain. Living far from the market, he said it has been their staple food ever since he was a child.

“Gapu iti kamote nabiag ko ken napag-adal ko dagiti putot ko, isunga saan a basta-basta ti kamote ta dakkel la unay ti naitulong na dayta kadakami a marigrigat. Mabalinmi nga ipalastog ditoy nga adu ti nakaadal nga ubbing gapu iti kamote laeng  Adda ti maestro, abugado, inhenyero, pulis ken dadduma pay,” (Because of kamote I was able to raise and send my children to school, that’s why kamote is very important especially to us poor. We are proud to say that because of kamote many of our children finished their studies, we have teachers, engineers, police, lawyers and others).

Docio said that most of them are gardeners, who also plant vegetables but mostly for consumption. Their products are primarily kamote and banana, and they use carabao-drawn carts to bring their products to the market, a good two hours trek away.

“My wife and my children help each other to sell kamote in the town center. We boil, fry or bake it. It sustains the schooling of our children,” he said.

Most of Docio’s buyers are from Baguio City and the lowlands, mainly from the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Pampanga, and Isabela. The customers get five to six sacks of kamote at P180- P200 for every sack and P6 to P8 a kilo.

The farmers are able to sell 25-28 sacks in two days, earning them P4,500 to P5,300. But, Docio said, this is not enough for their daily needs and for their children’s school needs.

Not ashamed

Meanwhile, Fermina Odsi, 27, a teacher from Nueva Vizcaya and member of the Kalanguya indigenous group, said, “I’m not ashamed to say that from childhood until graduation, kamote was my staple food. It still is because I seldom eat rice. There was no budget to buy rice with since my parents relied only on selling kamote in the town centers. They were too hard up.”

Odsi recalls, “Studying in Baguio City was not easy for us.  I had to buy all that I needed. But for me, material things were not so important. I only had a pair of shoes, four T-shirts, and two pairs of pants until I graduated. Many of my boardmates helped me, offering food and clothing because they observed that I was always eating kamote and walking to and from the school.”

“Gapu ta kayat ko a makalpas iti eskuwela, inanosak amin a rigat ti biag. Ti kamote ket importante la unay kanyak gaputa isu ti mangipalagip kaniak ti napalabas ken kasano ngay ngata ti biag dagiti napopobre no awan daytoy? (Because of my strong determination to finish my studies, I tried to overcome those difficulties in life. Kamote is very important to me because it reminds me of the past, and I’m always thinking that, what will happen to poor people without kamote), she said. 

Kamote has three new varieties: the VSP-1, VSP-2 and the VSP-3 which can be harvested within 105 to 115 days. The traditional kamote takes from five to seven months before harvesting. This plant also is a good source of vitamins A and B, Calcium, Iron, Potassium and Sodium that other plants do not have.

Kamote can also be fermented into vinegar and wine. All these are reasons why kamote production in the country has been increasing, making it a valuable commodity.

Upland indigenous communities in the Cordillera and nearby provinces subsist on kamote mainly because rice, which is grown on narrow strips of rice terraces, usually lasts for a only a couple of months. Kamote is thus the main staple food throughout the year.

Rice production has been destroyed by forest denudation in the whole region which depletes water irrigation as well as by artificial farming that was introduced during the Marcos dictatorship’s Green Revolution. Northern Dispatch/Posted by Bulatlat 

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