Eggplant takes center stage in Pangasinan fest

VILLASIS, Pangasinan — Once again, talong (eggplant), the main product of this agricultural town known as the "vegetable bowl" and "pinakbet capital" of the province, takes center stage in the second Talong Festival on Jan. 19.

The festival, which has gained a following, promises to be bigger and more exciting this year as the town celebrates its 200th foundation day.

Mayor Nonato Abrenica told The STAR that no less than President Arroyo was invited as guest of honor in the grand inauguration of the town’s new municipal hall, considered one of the most beautiful in Northern Luzon, also on Jan. 19.

The special day will be marked with various activities featuring, of course, the eggplant.

In the Talong Cookfest, residents of the town’s different barangays will pit their skills in cooking talong 101 ways at the municipal gymnasium.

In the afternoon of Jan. 19, there will be street dancing to be participated in by students clad in indigenous costumes and swaying to samba music. Showbiz personalities will join the event.

Talong grilling will follow, with some 500 grills, each about one meter long, lined up on the street fronting the town hall. About 1,500 kilograms of eggplants will be grilled, as well as fish, porkchop, hotdog and chicken after the main event.

Manila’s top bands will later perform in a concert, Abrenica said, adding that several Villasinians working abroad are returning home to witness the celebration.

The town prides itself of its long, smooth and sweet-tasting eggplant, which is of the hybrid type and best for inihaw (grilling), omelet, or pinakbet (when harvested young). Ten of the 21 barangays of this second-class municipality cultivate eggplants.

The tremendous success of the first Talong Festival last year inspired the municipal government to restage it, Abrenica said.

Thanks to the festival, he said non-Villasinians now readily identify their town, bordered by Urdaneta City and the towns of Rosales, Malasiqui and Asingan towns, as the "talong capital" of Pangasinan.

"We no longer lack attention now," he said, adding that two morning television shows would cover the festival.

As of last year, municipal agriculturist Cornelio Atchuela said 315 hectares of agricultural land were planted to talong, producing a total of 7,875 of the vegetable. Some 520 farmers are into eggplant planting, he added.

Villasis, according to Atchuela, has a year-round supply of eggplants, making it the top talong producer in the province.

He attributed this to their programs for farmers like seed assistance under the "plant now, pay later" scheme.

This year, he said the municipal government will provide farmers with a 10 percent seed subsidy and off-season technology, and will conduct technology demonstrations, among other assistance.

An eggplant farmer spends about P20,000 per hectare but earns a profit of about 60 percent.

Abrenica said the town’s bagsakan area where agricultural produce is sold at cheap wholesale prices is a boon to farmers as they can readily market their vegetables to merchants from other provinces.

Besides eggplant, local farmers have gone into the cultivation of other pinakbet ingredients such as tomatoes, okra, ampalaya, onions, and sweet potatoes, to augment their income from rice and corn production.