Three months after its kick-off, the Local Government Unit of Cabadbaran through its City Agriculture Office, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture – Caraga High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) and private seed companies, culminates the Vegetable Production Technology Expo through a field day and harvest festival at Panlaisan, Cabadbaran City, on July 25.

The one (1) hectare techno-demo farm established last April, aims to showcase the potential area of vegetable production in the city, whilst utilizing a previously irrigated 270-hectare area under the Pandanon Irrigation System that has been dried up for many years.

Cabadbaran City Agriculturist Maria Arceli Soria said that the techno-demo farm serves as a show window to test the viability of the space, given its soil condition before introducing it to interested vegetable growers for the expansion of the city’s vegetable production.

Cabadbaran City Mayor Judy Chin-Amante also eyes the area as a potential site for veggie mass production given that the business investment in the city is expanding.

“With the entry of a big shopping mall in the city, this is a challenge for our local farmers to produce more so we could provide them with the supply of food they need,” Mayor Chin-Amante said.

Regional Technical Director Rebecca R. Atega also lauds the effort of LGU Cabadbaran in prioritizing the needs of the local farmers in terms of market linkage, thus, one way to strengthen this is by clustering approach.

“We appreciate the forward-looking of our LGU Cabadbaran, what we can provide now is to cluster all of these associations so we could have an orderly system from production to processing up onto the marketing and Kadiwa,” RTD Atega said.

Jose Ian Delacruz and Stephen Dy, the farmer-cooperators of the land said that the demo farm helps their fellow vegetable growers to have options in planting.

“From the technologies offered by the participating seed companies, this could maximize our vegetable production since they can already identify what’s viable and suitable to plant. Hence, this could also boost our local production since most of our high-value crops are from Northern Mindanao and Davao region,” they said.

Marilyn Baron, President of the Cabadbaran City Vegetable Growers Association (CCVEGA), thanks the Department of Agriculture for setting up the initiative for them to apply what they have gathered from the site to their farms.

“We were amazed by the performance of other varieties of seeds which we think could produce a higher yield. The higher the yield, the higher the income for our association,” Baron said.

Around 250 participants from different farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCA) in Cabadbaran City including Barangay Agriculture Workers and Barangay Agriculture and Fisheries Para-Technicians attended the field day.

Seed Companies also set up their booths showcasing their products using their varieties from the farms. Ramgo International Corporation, Pilipinas KANEKO Seeds, East-West Seeds Co. Incorporated, Seedworks Philippines Incorporated, and Allied Botanical Corporation participated in this activity. Meanwhile, SYNGENTA Philippines Inc., YARA International, and BacPhil Planters Corporation participate in the showcase of fertilizers and chemicals.

Moreover, RTD Atega together with the Officials of the LGU Cabadbaran also recognizes the efforts of the participating farmer-cooperators and private seed companies through an awarding ceremony. (Kent Warren H. Fugoso, IO-I, DA-13RAFIS)