THERE are a number of reasons why we should put back those delicious and nutritious vegetables on our daily menu.

We couldn’t agree more with our good secretary, Arthur C. Yap, that we need to encourage young people to learn how to cook to better appreciate them. Having these veggies on the table is also a good way to encourage our farmers to produce more food because it makes them feel how much they are treasured.

And what better way for farmers to get more value in their way of life than to get more out of their farms than their traditional products?

Farming for natural ingredients, one of the directions identified by experts as the way to go under the 10-year DA Agri-Fisheries Biotechnology Roadmap, is just one of the thousand-and-one ways from which farmers could benefit not only from farming, but from biotechnology.

During a three-day exhibit co-sponsored by the Agri-Link, Food-Link and Aqua-Link held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City from October 6 to 8, farm or agricultural technologies, as well as the various products and byproducts were featured. There were more than a hundred participants, showcasing the "best of the best" in Philippine agriculture.

Not to be outdone was our booth showcasing the lowly malunggay, a delicious and nutritious vegetable often overlooked as a mere backyard vegetable.

We believe that malunggay—or moringa—is the next best thing that can happen to Philippine agriculture, because of its many uses and agri-business potentials.

The government is not alone in this conviction.

During the three-day exhibit, hundreds of individuals signed up to join our malunggay network—the Malunggay Biotechnology Information and Organization Network (BIONet)— expressing their interests in which they could benefit from the network, including governance, academe, science and business other than agriculture.

Our booth did not only succeed in promoting the poor man’s veggie — both for backyard planting and commercial cultivation — it also stirred the imagination of thousands of spectators, who did not only learn, but "experienced" and "tasted" malunggay’s vast agri-business potentials.

The free taste of our snacks, malunggay pan de sal, polvoron, and malunggay tea, was a blockbuster and some people kept on coming back for more.

We were told of how satisfied some people were after being given free trials of facial and body massage using personal health-care products of a company that pioneers the use of virgin coconut oil (VCO) and moringa oil, or the oil extracted from the seeds of malunggay in their products.

Malunggay is an all-purpose tree that is rich in vitamins A and C, calcium, protein and potassium. Its seed is rich in oil that can be turned into all-purpose oil, which has a big demand in the world market.

Experts also believe that moringa oil makes a better alternative source of fuel or biofuel

Truly, malunggay has many agri-business potentials. Through biotechnology, the farmers can gain a lot more from venturing into malunggay farming. The good news is that malunggay is just one of the many agricultural products from which gains can be enhanced the biotech way.