THE INDIAN malunggay with very long fruits was introduced in the Philippines more than 30 years ago. The lady who is credited to have brought in the variety is Mrs. Beatriz Dar, wife of the Agriculture Secretary William Dar. Dr. Dar was then head of ICRISAT in Hyderabad, India

THANKS ALDO – We got our planting materials from Dr. Aldo Layaoen who was then with Mariano Marcos State University in Batac City.

IMPRESSIVE – Well, we were really impressed by by the long fruits of the variety as well as by its fruitfulness. The taste is very good, just like the so-called native cultivar. It is excellent for cooking pinakbet together with other vegetables like ampalaya, okra, sitao, pepper, patola, eggplant, patani and others.

NO COMMERCIAL PLANTINGS  – So far, we have not seen an extensive commercial planting of the long-fruited Indian malunggay. The fruits could be a bestseller in the Ilocos and other places where they cook the same with their pinakbet and other dishes.

WEAK BRANCHES – The reason we could see is that the tree is not very strong. The branches heavily laden with fruits will easily break due to the heavy load of fruits if the branches are not propped with bamboo or some other materials.

MAIN SHORTCOMING – That’s the only shortcoming of the Indian malunggay that we have observed.