A thousand seedlings of Sweet Elena

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.

At the San Marcelino (Zambales) campus of the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University (RMTU), a 1.5-hectare area also now serves as a space where Sweet Elena seedlings are grown.

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.

At present, the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) is funding a project titled "Establishment of Scion Grove and Germplasm Production of Mango (Sweet Elena)" in collaboration with the Central Luzon Integrated Agricultural Research Center (CLIARC), Zambales Provincial Agriculture Office, and Palauig municipal agriculture office.

BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar said the four-year project aims to establish a scion grove, produce 2,000-5,000 Sweet Elena grafted seedlings, establish one or two nurseries for propagation of grafted seedlings of the variety, and promote Sweet Elena through propagation of seedlings and participation in trade fairs. – Rudy A. Fernandez