DA project transforms farmers into organic crops cultivators

 A SENIOR official from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) on Wednesday said the Department of Agriculture special project is making waves in the marginalized sectors in agriculture, challenging more Filipino farmers to help address food security and poverty in the countryside.  

In his report, OPAV Assistant Secretary Jonji Gonzales said the DA-Special Area For Agriculture Development (SAAD) Program helped the Pandanon Integrated Upland Small Farmers Association in the remote barangay of Pandanon in Negros Occidental become organic vegetable cultivators.

The farmers’ group is a recipient of the program since 2019 and have already received agricultural assistance amounting to more than PHP1.8 million.

The assistance included 1,800 grams of ampalaya seeds, 300 grams of eggplant seeds, and 300 grams of squash seeds. They also received farm tools, such as spades, spading forks, trowels, rakes, and rolls of water hose.

Natural attractants were provided to induce beneficial insects to come to and stay in crops to enhance pollination or provide natural pest protection to safeguard crops from infestation.

“Because of the assistance provided by SAAD, the association was able to increase the vegetable production and was able to sell to the local market. Dati ang vegetable produce nila para lang sa pagkain ng kanilang pamilya (Before, their vegetable produce were meant for their family’s consumption only),” he said during the Network Briefing News with host Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar.

Through the said program, the farmers are set to receive additional assistance totaling more than PHP366,000. This will be in the form of vegetable seeds and additional tools.

“Layunin ng famers group na maging sustainable producer ng organically grown, chemical-free vegetables sa Negros Occidental (The farmers group aims to be a sustainable producer of organically grown, chemical-free vegetables in Negros Occidental),” Gonzales said. “They hope to achieve this goal through all the interventions they obtained and by practicing the technologies conveyed by the SAAD Program.”

SAAD is a special project under the Department of Agriculture focusing on providing better livelihood opportunities in the list of priority provinces in the country.