By Cyrus A. Natividad

(1st from left) Dr. Manny Palada, with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (4th from left) and other members of the MPFI Board.

The Moringaling Philippines Foundation, Inc (MPFI) has elected Centralian Dr. Manny C. Palada as its new Member of the Board. The inauguration was held at the DA Headquarters in Diliman Quezon City on August 15, 2023.

Palada who was a Member of the CPU Board of Trustees has been a visiting professor at Central Philippine University College of Agriculture; a multi-awarded CPU Alumni, international horticulture consultant, and a master in Moringa (Malungay) propagation and production. He has been conducting research and seminars in the country and abroad.

The vision of MPFI is to promote Moringa’s health and economic benefits, thereby providing a platform for the people’s fight against malnutrition and poverty, especially in agricultural areas. IT is MPFI’s mission to become an umbrella organization in the Philippines, connecting all stakeholders and working together for a sustainable and globally competitive industry.

Continuous free seminars and training will be extended to farmers, cooperatives and associations according to Dr. Palada. Moringa is considered one of the superfoods that is economically healthy for Filipinos, he said.

MPFI will provide information on what are the health benefits of Moringa; Data on malnutrition and scientific journals for mitigation. For farmers, literatures for Seedling and Propagation as best practices will be distributed as well. Other helpful literatures and seminar are also provided by MPFI, such as Post-harvest processing, food safety, FDA, CGMP, organic certifications, Cost Analysis, Pricing (wholesale, retail), and Markets and branding among others, Palada added.