Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro – Two hundred partner beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office MIMAROPA from the different barangays in the Municipality of Mamburao attended the training on Organic Farming focusing on Bio- Intensive Gardening held at the Balansay Gymnasium, Barangay Balansay. The activity was organized by the Municipal Action Team (MAT) of Mamburao in coordination with the Local Government Unit of Mamburao, the Municipal Agriculture Office, the Provincial Government of Occidental Mindoro, and the Provincial Agriculture Office on October 11-12, 2018.
The Department periodically conducts assessments on the impact of the Program to the partner beneficiaries, one of which is the Social Welfare and Development Indicator (SWDI). The most recent SWDI was administered last 2015 where out of 1, 851 assessed households in the Municipality, there were 849 households under level 2 on the indicator of employable skills (ES), meaning, they have employable skills but are not duly recognized by authorities. These household beneficiaries derived their skills from non-formal and informal trainings.
Lack of employable skills of the adult household members may adversely affect the economic and financial status of the family, thus, to augment the skills of the concerned households under SWDI ES level 2, the Municipal Action Team of Mamburao organized a skills training where the participants would be taught relevant tips on organic farming and bio-intensive gardening. These tips may be applied in their backyard, communal and container gardening which may bring the family additional income.
The training started with the preliminaries facilitated by the MAT members of Mamburao followed by the introduction of the first speaker Ms. Floreda Rosales, who discussed the basics of Organic Farming and Bio-Intensive Gardening. Her topics include Land Preparation, Seedling Preparation, Propagation and Transplanting, Weeding, Fertilizer Application and Harvesting.
After her discussion and all questions raised were answered, her partner, Mr. Jerwin Jake Pamanilay explained the preparation of the different concoctions which will be used in organic farming. Then he invited the participants per barangay to simulate the preparation of the ingredients they brought for a specific concoction. Poblacion prepared the fermented plant juice (FPJ), Balansay for the fermented fruit juice (FFJ), Payompon and Tayamaan for Oriental Herbal Nutrients (OHN) while the rest of the barangays helped assisted in each simulation including the preparation of the Calcium Phosphate (CAL-PHOS).
After all the simulations, a commitment setting was done where the participants met per barangay and decided what kind of garden they will be doing individually, per sitio, or per barangay. Their plan also includes a monitoring process and evaluation where the best and most productive garden will be decided upon by judges on December 2018 and with prize to be lobbied by the training team.
To culminate the activity, each were given a tamarind, coffee, and pomelo seedlings.
The participants expressed their gratitude and appreciation of the activity which further enhanced their knowledge and skills on organic farming and bio-intensive gardening.
“Ang mga seedling na ito ay aming itatanim, palalaguin at aalagaan hanggang sila ay magbunga katulad ng pagbunga ng Programa sa bawat isang Pamilyang tinutulungan nito”, words of commitment of parent leader Susima Vilbes of Fatima.###
Submitted by: Elizabeth P. Safilo
