Nov 13 2013, 09:58 PM
QUOTE(Michael J. @ Nov 13 2013, 09:53 AM)
Wow! I've been missing out on a lot of action going on in the thread lei.... haa...
Seriously, Para + Mr Farmer, you guys are awesome in keeping the thread alive!
Before I go on, my apologies to hijacking your current discussion... heh... from the looks of it, it is certainly a lively one.
A little update on my side: I've been testing and propagating a number of heirloom and locally adapted short-term crops lately. Thus far, the number of crops I've been propagating and testing is small, due to space constraint (and my divided time between my "real" research work at the university).
Anyway, the current list of crops being tested and enriched (do note that I only keep heirlooms (H) and non-hybrid, non-GMO open pollinated (OP) variants ):
1. Dimpled Brown Cowpeas (H): Personally selected and bred lines that were drought and wet-feet tolerant. Moderate yielding.
2. Purple-seeded French Beans (H): Does not perform well under drought conditions, in the midst of improvement. Moderate yielding.
3. Dwarf Yellow Popping Corn (OP): Very short stocky plant (about 90cm base-to-tassel). Produces two cobs per plant. Drought tolerant
4. Tadong Groundnuts (H): Unique wet-climate groundnut with bright yellow flowers. Tolerates drought, appears impervious to wet-feet disease (Phytophthora and Fusarium). In the midst of propagation.
5. Crimson Giant Radish (H): Wet weather and drought tolerant variety of giant red radish. Variable performance, will continue selection for local adaptation.
6. Sarawak Butternut Squash (OP): I don't know where this variety originates from, but here in Kuching and Samarahan area, we find them everywhere. Even by the roadside. Amazing squash variant, produce fruits that range between 2kg-5kg each. However, very sensitive to water stress (drought). In the midst of propagating.
7. Blue Jade Corn: Another dwarf variety of corn, multi-purpose (popping, whole, and milling). As the name says it, the corn kernels are purple-blue. Reaches 90+cm height, but produce 2-3 small cobs only. A little sensitive to wet weather and drought. In the midst of propagation.
8. Taragang Groundnut (H): Another peanut variant, from Sabah. Yet to be tested, but supposed to be much higher yielding (average 3 seeds per pod).
9. Red Egg Tomato (OP): A very thick-fleshed tomato, about the size and shape of a large chicken/duck egg. Here is Sarawak, you find them everywhere; gardeners and farmers alike just love them. Not normally sold by weight, but by number (4-5 pieces for RM2). Performance somewhat variable, depending on genes inherited. Some plants known to grow up to 6 feet tall, others 2-3 feet tall. Moderately productive.
10. Cili Goronong (OP): A type of Habanero chili that apparently has been grown in Sarawak for decades. And yes, it is used here in almost everything spicy (especially the sambals). Not as hot as one thinks, and smells real fruity.
11. Cili Antu (OP): Looks, smells, and burns just like the Naga chili famed for its super-hot touch. Could be a recent import. I almost had to be hospitalized for chemical burns while harvested the seeds from this chili. Even the vapor stings your nose. No joke.
12. Javanese Ginseng (OP): Does not look like the famed Sino ginseng roots, although there are some resemblance in the shoots. It is eaten like a vegetable in the interior parts of Borneo island, roots shoots and all. Very easy to seed, almost weed like. Hope it isn't "weed" substitute, as it seems to have some kind of calming effect on people (noticed that with a bunch of hyperactive kids).
Well, those are the crops I've collected thus far. Some are not local, but are being locally adapted. Others seems to have been adapted already, and some appear to be unique to this part of the world.
Aside from seed collecting, I've also been dabbling in a bit of permaculture-ish methods. Namely, I've been trying out companion planting, whereby crops are grown together in a limited space to complement each other. Classic example of this is the "Three-Sister" method of pumpkin-corn-bean. For me, I've been testing bean+tomato+garlic, corn+groundnut and chili+bean. So far, the most successful ones are the corn+groundnut.
Hello Michael, we miss you. It's been a while since we heard from you. Thank you for your update, you must had been real busy. It must be very interesting propagating all of them. It'll be fantastic if you can hybrid them to be drought / wet feet tolerant and high yield. Seriously, Para + Mr Farmer, you guys are awesome in keeping the thread alive!
Before I go on, my apologies to hijacking your current discussion... heh... from the looks of it, it is certainly a lively one.
A little update on my side: I've been testing and propagating a number of heirloom and locally adapted short-term crops lately. Thus far, the number of crops I've been propagating and testing is small, due to space constraint (and my divided time between my "real" research work at the university).
Anyway, the current list of crops being tested and enriched (do note that I only keep heirlooms (H) and non-hybrid, non-GMO open pollinated (OP) variants ):
1. Dimpled Brown Cowpeas (H): Personally selected and bred lines that were drought and wet-feet tolerant. Moderate yielding.
2. Purple-seeded French Beans (H): Does not perform well under drought conditions, in the midst of improvement. Moderate yielding.
3. Dwarf Yellow Popping Corn (OP): Very short stocky plant (about 90cm base-to-tassel). Produces two cobs per plant. Drought tolerant
4. Tadong Groundnuts (H): Unique wet-climate groundnut with bright yellow flowers. Tolerates drought, appears impervious to wet-feet disease (Phytophthora and Fusarium). In the midst of propagation.
5. Crimson Giant Radish (H): Wet weather and drought tolerant variety of giant red radish. Variable performance, will continue selection for local adaptation.
6. Sarawak Butternut Squash (OP): I don't know where this variety originates from, but here in Kuching and Samarahan area, we find them everywhere. Even by the roadside. Amazing squash variant, produce fruits that range between 2kg-5kg each. However, very sensitive to water stress (drought). In the midst of propagating.
7. Blue Jade Corn: Another dwarf variety of corn, multi-purpose (popping, whole, and milling). As the name says it, the corn kernels are purple-blue. Reaches 90+cm height, but produce 2-3 small cobs only. A little sensitive to wet weather and drought. In the midst of propagation.
8. Taragang Groundnut (H): Another peanut variant, from Sabah. Yet to be tested, but supposed to be much higher yielding (average 3 seeds per pod).
9. Red Egg Tomato (OP): A very thick-fleshed tomato, about the size and shape of a large chicken/duck egg. Here is Sarawak, you find them everywhere; gardeners and farmers alike just love them. Not normally sold by weight, but by number (4-5 pieces for RM2). Performance somewhat variable, depending on genes inherited. Some plants known to grow up to 6 feet tall, others 2-3 feet tall. Moderately productive.
10. Cili Goronong (OP): A type of Habanero chili that apparently has been grown in Sarawak for decades. And yes, it is used here in almost everything spicy (especially the sambals). Not as hot as one thinks, and smells real fruity.
11. Cili Antu (OP): Looks, smells, and burns just like the Naga chili famed for its super-hot touch. Could be a recent import. I almost had to be hospitalized for chemical burns while harvested the seeds from this chili. Even the vapor stings your nose. No joke.
12. Javanese Ginseng (OP): Does not look like the famed Sino ginseng roots, although there are some resemblance in the shoots. It is eaten like a vegetable in the interior parts of Borneo island, roots shoots and all. Very easy to seed, almost weed like. Hope it isn't "weed" substitute, as it seems to have some kind of calming effect on people (noticed that with a bunch of hyperactive kids).
Well, those are the crops I've collected thus far. Some are not local, but are being locally adapted. Others seems to have been adapted already, and some appear to be unique to this part of the world.
Aside from seed collecting, I've also been dabbling in a bit of permaculture-ish methods. Namely, I've been trying out companion planting, whereby crops are grown together in a limited space to complement each other. Classic example of this is the "Three-Sister" method of pumpkin-corn-bean. For me, I've been testing bean+tomato+garlic, corn+groundnut and chili+bean. So far, the most successful ones are the corn+groundnut.
The Butter squash is popular here too. When I was planting pumpkins, there were request from the wholesaler.
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no need to germinate. Plant them into poly bags. Learning to graft rubber trees, already have maybe 5. Using these for scion harvesting.
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