Uswag-GK villagers to be trained on vegetable production

Manila (25 August) — Aside from giving them decent homes at the Uswag-Gawad Kalinga Designer Village in Kinuban, Maco, Kapitbahayan families will also enjoy brighter hope for the future with a food security cum livelihood training on vegetable production.

The provincial government of Compostela Valley through its Agriculturist Office (PAGRO) launched its Farmers Field School (FFS) Season Long Training on Vegetables on August 15 at the village.

During the ceremonial seed sowing, Gov. Arturo Uy encouraged the family members of the importance of growing their own vegetables either as a means of healthy sustenance or as a means for income-generation.

With each household allotted 2 family members, more than a hundred individuals will undergo training every Friday for the next 3 months which will commence on August 22. The morning activity will spend on a lecture to be done at the multi-purpose hall located inside the village and the afternoon for the hands-on or on-field session.

The training also encourages the families to engage in organic farming to provide for their daily meals. According to Minda Agarano, Agri-technician of PAGRO, they will espouse the natural way of farming which makes use of farmer-produced organic materials. “Aside from food safety, we also offer them a lasting solution to most of the farmers’ problems and that is the skyrocketing cost of chemical fertilizer,” she said. Instead, the families will be taught on the production of organic fertilizers and pesticides during the course of the training.

Each household will be given a 1×10 plot and another communal garden for commercial planting where they can sell their products such as tomatoes, ampalaya (bittergourd), eggplant, and other common veggies. By the time they graduate, a good harvest will then be expected provided they will apply what they have learned.

Farmers Field School (FFS) for high value commercial crops aims to make farmers an expert in their own fields and eventually empower them through added knowledge and technology, making their own decisions in growing their own fruits and vegetables. The FFS have so far trained beneficiaries province-wide including not just farmers but also in schools where parents of students also benefitted. (fe maestre/ids comval)