Extension Highlights

An Ayote Ambassador

Liliana Murillo

Liliana Murillo came to Massachusetts from El Salvador with a passion for vegetables, and she has quickly become something of an agricultural ambassador.

Murillo is the latest addition to Professor Frank Mangan’s Extension “ethnic vegetable” team, combing the globe for nutritious crops that can be grown in Massachusetts, that can be marketed to the state’s growing ethnic communities and culinary aficionados, and that can help establish trade agreements that will benefit local growers, and those in countries where these crops originated.

Members of Mangan’s Extension group have already gained experience in working with crops and communities with roots in Southeast Asia, Brazil and Puerto Rico. Liliana Murillo is part of an effort to the same things with Salvadoran crops like ayote (Cucurbita moschata), chipilín (Crotalaria longirostrata), Loroco (Fernaldia pandurata) and Pipián (Cucurbita mixta)

It’s a tall order, especially if you concurrently pursuing a master’s degree in International development at Brandeis University and doing an internship in Washington D.C. Murillo was part of Salvadoran delegation met with Extension, Outreach and College of Natural Resources and Environment staff in June. NRE associate dean Steve Goodwin made an immediate commitment to help fund Murillo’s work here.

“I am very lucky to have come here because it prepared me to further my education and also opened my eyes to a new world of competitive agricultural markets that my country will hopefully soon be a part of,” she notes.

Murillo has long been deeply interested in the links between agriculture and development. She previously received a scholarship and attended the Zamorano School of Agriculture in Honduras where she studied pesticide safety. She attributes her specific interest in vegetables to the contagious enthusiasm of the people she met.

Liliana Murillo conducting a survey

She initially made contact with Mangan through the El Salvadoran Consulate. She was informed that he was looking for someone with background in vegetable production to explore the market possibilities in specific areas of Massachusetts and was hired to write a proposal. She and Mangan worked well together because of their similar passions and their different backgrounds and fields of expertise.

“When we were looking into the markets Frank didn’t know that we eat our squash when it is very young,” said Murillo. “So the ethnic people would not buy it here when it was sold ripe. He simply didn’t know the preference.”

According to Mangan, she complimented the team because she was able to break the cultural boundaries through her language and understanding of the Latino culture.

“Liliana allowed us to take and active part in the communities. She could walk into a Latino market and speak Spanish which would make the people feel comfortable and her knowledge of the crops was priceless.”

In August, Murillo and other member of the Extension vegetable team joined forces with Pat Bebo’s Extension Nutrition Educators to help bring the fruits of the Salvadoran and Brazilian vegetable projects to the New Bedford.

Murillo says that while she was helping others understand her culture she was benefiting as well.

“I didn’t know anything about U.S. Markets before I came here and UMass allowed me to see and learn about things like wholesale when I visited markets,” said Murillo. “The farmers here have so much knowledge here and showed me what we, in El Salvador, need to change and do to be part of the competitive market.”

—Michaela Plunkett