PALAUIG, Zambales—The government is stepping up effort to turn idle and what used to be unproductive agricultural lands of this town into a major food producer, with the introduction of off-season vegetable production.

This chief agricultural town was chosen as the pilot area of its off-season vegetable-production project, which is one of the agriculture components of the World Bank-funded 2nd Phase of the Agrarian Reform Communities Development Program (ARCDPII) being implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DAR), as a strategy to increase farmers’ income, especially those in the upland areas.

Through off-season vegetable production, the DAR hopes to turn farmer-beneficiaries into agri-businessmen and women, says Zambales provincial agrarian-reform officer Edilberto Adraneda.

Together with local officials of this town, headed by Mayor Generoso Amog, Adraneda led the Educational Tour and Harvesting of the Vegetable Production Site in South Eastern Palauig ARC and the Techno Demo Farm at the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University (RMTU)-Botolan Campus.

The visit coincided with the graduation of the first batch of off-season vegetable production-training program students.  The three-week training program is a joint project of the DAR, RMTU and East West Seed Co. Inc.  

A total of 45 agrarian-reform beneficiaries and students of RMTU students were trained to turn idle and unproductive lands during off-season into productive vegetable farms.

Adraneda said idle and unproductive lands during off-season can be more productive for farmers, citing the case of at least 18 agrarian- reform beneficiaries who are now earning an additional P5,000 to P10,000 a week by turning less than 1,500 to 3,000 sq m of their rice farm into vegetable farm.

Noel Landro, who inherited his farm from farmer-beneficiary father Leon, said he is earning twice as much as he is earning from rice farming, turning less than 2,000 sq m of his 6,780 sq  m of rice farm into ampalaya farm alone.

“I found vegetable farming very profitable. I’m harvesting two times a week and I’m producing 400 kilos of ampalaya a day.  I am selling it only at P35 a kilo,” he said.

Adelberto Baniqued, DAR chief technical advisor for the World Bank-funded ARCDPII, said the program will end in December this year, and they are stepping up effort to sustain the gains of CARP in Zambales by turning the province into a major contributor to Luzon’s food basket.

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PALAUIG, Zambales—The government is stepping up effort to turn idle and what used to be unproductive agricultural lands of this town into a major food producer, with the introduction of off-season vegetable production.

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