BALANGA CITY, Bataan – About 120 farmers organizations and cooperatives have adopted high-value crops and organic farming technology in Bataan.
Oscar Oliva, Agriculturist II of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and designated coordinator to the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office in San Fernando, Pampanga, explained the province has been continuously provided with grafted coffee and cocoa seedlings, mango flower inducer chemicals and machines, vegetable seeds, knapsack sprayers, shallow well-tube for the vegetable demonstration farms and highly-modernized technical trainings and seminars.
The provincial coordinator to the Department of Agriculture has discussed the all-out comprehensive support to the strategic initiative of Bataan Governor Albert Raymond S. Garcia to keep-up with his agricultural food security agenda.
With the growing population and inflow of skilled and professional manpower due to expansion of industrial firms and commercial business operations in the province’s growth areas in the historic peninsula, the successful high-value crops scheme of agricultural format is absolutely necessary to expand the income of the farmers and residents in the countryside, Oliva said.
He mentioned that the two existing vegetable demonstration farms located in Sitio Potis, upland village of Bagong Silang, Balanga City and in Barangay Calaylayan in Abucay town have resulted in the 36 percent revenue increase or P 5,000 base line income per month for the farmers groups.
He enumerated the agricultural inputs regularly supplied by the DA regional office are 200 bags of 50 kilos each for mango flower inducer; 300 kilos of vegetable seeds for greenhouse demonstration farms; 32 knapsack sprayers and other equipment; 250,000 grafted cocoa and coffee seedlings and other specialized agricultural training programs.
The widespread introduction of organic farming practices to farmers is an effective approach that would enable rural residents to generate safe, healthy and nutritious vegetables intended for local market consumption.
The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) is working closely with the National Commission on the Indigenous People and other private institutions to transform portions of tribal lands into productive high-value crops centers and farm tourism sites.
