Why Microgreens are the Next Big Thing

I can still vividly remember the time I was introduced to microgreens two years back. Waiting for my next class at ICropS, I bumped into my AGRI 32 Lab FIC, Dr. Leah E. Endonela. I took the chance to inquire possible thesis topics and she mentioned about her on-going mini-research on indigenous microgreens and its prospects. She even mentioned that growing-and-cooking various microgreens was her hobby for almost a decade.

The following day, I started doing research on the characteristics and benefits of microgreens. Amazingly, I came across an article saying that microgreens are considered as super foods —packed with nutrients that are approximately double the amount in full-grown crops. Microgreens are germinated seeds that are harvested in just 3 to 21 days after sowing of which the common examples are sunflower, chia, mungbean, spinach, broccoli, radish, and lettuce. Thus, in terms of production time and requirements, microgreens are much more viable and sustainable compared to the conventional system. For these reasons, I decided to give it a try…

As I worked on my own microgreen growing set-up, I learned and discovered a lot of things like the importance of using sterilized growing medium, the advantage of using quality seeds as well as the effects of microenvironment on seed germination and seedling development. But just like any thesis students, my first trial was a failure. My sunflower microgreens set-up was infested with molds. After a series of replanting, finally I was able to harvest a bunch of sunflower microgreens.

Months later, I was qualified for an internship in a US-based agricultural company. Surprisingly, my first assignment was to create tutorial scripts and graphic designs on growing microgreens. The company provided the necessary materials that fueled the beginning of my microgreen journey.

Recently, these microgreens have opened great opportunities and brought much blessings for me. First, my TikTok about microgreens was featured in AHA! By Drew Arellano, GMA News and Public Affairs; second, my entry titled “Sprout i6111: Elevating Agricultural Education among Filipinos Utilizing Ikea Effect and Kinesthetic Learning” was one of the winners of the Kabataang Agribiz Competitive Grant Assistance Program of the Department of Agriculture Provincial Level with P50, 000.00 cash prize. I believe that through these small steps, we can introduce microgreens to our fellow citizens and benefit from them.

This is only the start of this microgreen journey, and I am excited where God will bring this knowledge years from now. – ARVIN JOSHUA P. BARLONGO, BSA/August 24, 2021