MANILA, Philippines — With surging global demand for purple yam, a unit of the Department of Agriculture has convened with stakeholders to reinforce plant variety protection and intellectual property safeguards for Philippine ube.
The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), through its National Seed Industry Council–Plant Variety Protection Office (NSIC-PVPO), held a meeting with stakeholders aimed at strengthening the protection, conservation, utilization and development of ube varieties.
NSIC-PVPO said it has ongoing initiatives to encourage the development and protection of improved ube varieties.
The country currently recognizes eight registered ube varieties, with officials noting that additional types are set to enter the registry as breeding initiatives progress.
The DA’s Intellectual Property Management Office is also preparing to secure certification marks from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines to safeguard Philippine branding and protect common names such as ube.
During the meeting, participants called for strengthened collaboration among institutions involved in breeding, production and conservation of ube genetic resources.
Stakeholders also said there is a need for coordinated action on the expansion of available planting materials, improved production capacity and better access, utilization and benefit-sharing on ube materials.
The meeting also focused on the need for increased investments in ube research and development .
“Participants noted the limited funding currently available for the sector, while emphasizing the importance of expanding support for production and research initiatives to sustain the industry’s growth,” the agency said.
Experts were also quoted as saying that breeding programs must be responsive to consumer and market demands to improve the competitiveness of the country’s ube industry.
Industry experts also highlighted the importance of tissue culture propagation in producing high?quality, disease?free planting materials, which could ensure the wider distribution of improved ube stocks.