‘Chopstick’ tree headed for the big time

Behold the malapapaya tree.

Once upon a recent time, it was regarded as a "lesser known" tree species. Now it is headed for the big time, thanks to a breakthrough chalked up by researchers Maria P. Dayan and Rosalinda Reaviles of the Los Banos-based Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDE).

The scientific headway won for Dayan and Reaviles the Filiberto S. Pollisco R&D Award conferred during the celebration of this year’s National Science and Technology Week in Legazpi City (Albay) last July.

The ERDB researchers have developed an easy and practical way of germinating malapapaya seeds that guarantees seedling propagation of the species.

The tree species is called malapapaya because it branches like a papaya plant.

Its wood has been considered of high quality for making environment-friendly products such as chopsticks, toothpicks, popsicle and lollipop sticks, ice cream spoons, tonque depressor, pencil slots, wooden shoes, and food boxes exported to Japan.

The country’s malapapaya strands have in recent years considerably been depleted because of excessive logging and kaingin farming.

Tree planters could not grow it in plantation because of lack of technology on how the species could be propagated at a large scale.

"The development of the malapapaya seed technology ensures the possibility of establishing medium-and large-scale plantations of the species," reported Jennifer Piconnes of ERDB. "In fact, through the technology, the MP Wood Philippines has established its 140-hectare malapapaya plantation in the Teraoka Farms in Mangatarem, Pangasinan." – RAF