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The Philippine Star,
Agriculture, Sunday, December 31, 2006 |
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A
thousand seedlings of Sweet Elena
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by Rudy A.
Fernandez |
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At the
Ninoy Aquino Wildlife Parks in Diliman, Quezon City, a
visitor can see about a thousand mango seedlings.
These are not ordinary planting materials. They are
seedlings of the country’s acknowledged sweetest variety of
carabao mango named Sweet Elena.
The Ninoy park of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources-Parks and Wildlife Bureau-Dizon Botanic
Fruit Garden (DENR-PAWB-DBFG) and the RMTU nursery now
exemplify the government effort to propagate and promote the
planting of the country’s sweetest carabao mango variety.
Sweet Elena has been confirmed as the "sweetest of the
sweetest" in tests done for the past three years by the
DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
In the BPI studies, Sweet Elena bested the vaunted
Talaban and Fresco of Guimaras, the MMSU Gold of the Ilocos
Region, and the Lamao of Zambales. It was adjudged as
superior in terms of sweetness, edibility of flesh, weight,
soluble solids, and physical appearance.
Sweet Elena was discovered and identified by RMTU
researchers Dr. Ester Mariñas and Prof. Remedios Lim in the
backyard of Penida Moselina Malabed in Sta. Cruz, Zambales.
It was registered with the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC)
on Oct. 18, 2002. The certificate of registration was
awarded to Malabed by then DA Secretary Luis Lorenzo during
the 2003 Mango Forum. |
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