And now, ‘mistisang talong’

If the rice sector now has its "mestizo" hybrid varieties, the eggplant industry has is hybrid "mistisang talong".

Codenamed A300, the up-and-coming eggplant variety was bred by Dr. Rodel Maghirang of the UP Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) under IPB’s plant breeding program.

"Mistisa" is white with purple stripes, grows to 20 centimeters long, has a long shelf life and acceptable quality and very prolific.

The new hybrid eggplant is among the varieties included in field screening trials for eggplant disease and insect pest resistance conducted by IPB with the support of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).

"Mistisa" is gaining acceptance by farmers and consumers across the country, it was reported during a review of DA-BAR-funded research projects being implemented by UPLB. The review was conducted by an external program management review (IPMR) team headed by noted scientist Dr. Feliciano Calora.

At Bantog, Asingan, Pangasinan, for instance, A300 and EG203 were the two favorite of farmers to whom the varieties were introduced.

Dr. Merdelyn Caasi-Lit of IPB told The STAR that "mistisa" is tolerant to bacterial wilt and leafhopper and has resistance to shoot and fruit borer and phomopsis blight. Dr. Lit and Dr. Nenita Opina headed a DA-BAR-supported project that identified varieties resistant to diseases attacking the crop.

Shoot and fruit borer is the most serious insect pest of eggplant and the number one constraint in eggplant production, they said.

Also one of the most destructive diseases of eggplant in the world’s tropical and subtropical areas, phomopsis blight affects all aboveground parts of the crop.

Leafhopper damages eggplant at vegetative stage by sucking the surfaces of the leaves.

In volume of production and hectarage, eggplant is now the country’s No. 1 vegetable. Eggplant, which displaced tomato as the top vegetable in 1999, is now planted in 19,000 hectares, 30 percent of which are in the Ilocos Region.

Eggplant production is now a P1.8-billion industry. — Rudy A. Fernandez