Organic vegetable plantations in MP rehabilitated

March 24, 2019 Community Billboard

BAUKO, Mountain Province — Vegetable production has become a profitable enterprise as much as a household gardening hobby for members of the Bauko Organic Practitioners Association (BOPA) in Monamon Norte, Bauko, Mountain Province, especially when organic vegetable farming has added up as a source of income.

BOPA member Carmen Malinias, now more than 60 years old, said that shifting to organic vegetable production was not a problem as she had been tilling the soil for more than three decades over with minimal pesticide application.

She says that the only problem lies on the natural calamities that visit the country each year, damaging the protected areas of their crops thus losing so much in terms of income.

“Dinadael ti bagyo ti patakder mi nga paglinongan na ti organic vegetables mi, isu nga bassit ti ma-ideliver mi idjay Baguio ken Manila,” (typhoon has damaged the protective sheds that we built for our organic vegetable gardens decreasing our deliveries to Baguio and Manila),” she said.

The Department of Agriculture Philippine Rural Development Project (DA PRDP), through its small livelihood project (SLP) approach under the I-REAP (Enterprise Development) component offers an approach that aims to provide sustainable income generating activities to farmers whose livelihoods are affected by natural disasters.

BOPA became a beneficiary of the SLP approach by funding the “Rehabilitation of Protected Areas for Organic Vegetable Production” project worth P1.69 million.

The project’s objective is to rehabilitate the protected areas for the production of organic vegetables and to sustain demand of markets, stabilize or ensure vegetable supply and protect cultivation technology and organic agriculture practices.

BOPA has been producing and supplying organic vegetables to elite markets like LaTOP in La Trinidad, Benguet, Porta Vaga Mall and the Cordillera Market (Hangar Market) in Baguio City, as well as other trading centers in Bontoc and Bauko, Mt. Province.

However, sustainability of supply to cater to these outlet’s demands were not met due to crop damage caused by typhoons, insufficient capital to support repairs of facilities and lack of input support for production.

The project rehabilitated greenhouses technology to protected farming areas of organic vegetables like lettuce, French beans, and carrots.

These structures adopt the greenhouse technology to protect seedlings during rainy season which are sold to cooperative members.

The structures protect the vegetables from strong winds and rainfall and most of all speed up vegetable growth, according to the organization members.

BOPA chairman Nora Caligtan said that the total production area covered under this project is around 8,800 square meters and produces an estimate of 8,918 kg of lettuce, 9,603 kg French beans, 15,640 kg carrots among others, all year round.

“Planting these vegetables under the greenhouse gives a year round harvest,” she said. Caligtan added that the project will align with their objectives to increase the number of organic farmers in their area.

“We are grateful for this project because our enterprise is attracting more farmers to become members, at the same time we are welcoming them so that more farmers will produce organic vegetables which is a profitable enterprise,” Caligtan said.

Mabel B. Zabala-DA PRDP/ ABN