SAN MATEO, ISABELA – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office No. 02 reintroduces a local bean, the Mung bean or locally known as mungo.
In his speech during the launching of the Complementary Food Products in the municipality recently, Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI-DOST) Director Mario V. Capanzana enumerated the various benefits of mungo. It does not only generate employment to the locality, he said, but also gives many health benefits as she encouraged San Mateoans to produce their own local products.
San Mateo, Isabela is known to be the Mungo Capital of the Philippines. Mungo, according to San Mateo Vice Mayor Roberto C. Agcaoili, is their black gold which is also the main ingredient of the complementary foods they produce in the center.
San Mateo envisioned to improve the nutritional status of children of the province and neighboring communities. Sharing the common vision as partners, Municipal Mayor Crispina R. Agcaoili mentioned that the said convergence project is a concrete and timely response of the municipality on poverty alleviation. Aside from this, it can also generate employment to the persons involved in the value chain.
“The project is already generating employment to San Mateo as it requires production of tons of rice and mongo as raw materials. We receive orders from various companies already and this really amazes us until now,” said Agcaoili.
Engr. Sancho A. Mabborang, regional director of DOST Region 02, added that the various equipment handed over by DOST to San Mateo are tools for growth. He said “It is with the management that will define the success of the center.”
Ms. Rhodora Maestre, regional nutrition program coordinator of National Nutrition Council, attended the activity and vowed her commitment to support the said project.
The launching started with a ribbon cutting followed by the ground breaking ceremony and ended with a feeding program for the young minds of San Mateo.
The project is a component of the DOST-Package for the Improvement of Nutrition of Young Children (PINOY) of the High Impact Technology Solutions (HITS) of the DOST.
DOST PINOY is a nutrition intervention strategy intended to lessen the impact of the persistent problem of malnutrition among young Filipino children six months to three years old. Aside from complementary food products, the project also includes health and nutrition education of mothers and caregivers.
PINOY’s three components include nutrition education, complementary foods preparation, and feeding. It is part of a larger program called “Sulong Pinoy” that aims to address malnutrition in the country through science and technology-based interventions.
The nutrition education component is designed for mothers and caregivers of children six months to two years old who are underweight for their age. The education component aims to impart the importance of nutrition, breastfeeding and complementary foods to growing children; food safety; preparing meal plans; and growing vegetables in their own backyards.
Meanwhile, the complementary foods component involves the introduction and preparation of Food and Nutrition Research Institute’s complementary food blends and snacks foods. The feeding component will entail 120 days of feeding underweight children in the community.
DOST-FNRI developed the three complementary foods which are available in 30-gram packs to meet nutritional needed of this age group. The rice-mongo instant blend and rice-mongo-sesame blend are designed for 6-11 month-old children, while the rice-mongo curls are intended for one-year-old children and above. (By Angel Gorospe, DOST PSTC Isabela)
