CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY --The chief of Lanao del Norte's provincial agriculture office has encouraged residents to do backyard farming while on community quarantine to ensure sufficient food supply and save expenses.
Letecia Ditucalan, Lanao del Norte Provincial Agricultural Officer, said Friday her office has been distributing various vegetable seeds to the different municipalities in coordination with the Department of Agriculture Region 10 (DA-10).
The move, she said, is part of the provincial government's strategy to mitigate the impact of the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis on poor families.
"We encourage the people in the province to plant even in their backyard. Their vegetable garden can be essential food source in case the quarantine or lockdown will last longer," Ditucalan said.
She also acknowledged the help provided by the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) of DA-10, saying it has provided significant agricultural assistance for rice farmers in the province.
"We are thankful to DA-10 for this financial assistance, which is a big help for our rice farmers. Through this, our farmers can buy fertilizers and spend it for farm labor since it is almost planting season," Ditucalan said.
"The farmers can now buy their daily needs with this assistance while they are under quarantine or lockdown," she added.
Audy G. Maagad, Meanwhile, DA-10 officer-in-charge, said he hopes the RFFA initiative would encourage Lanao del Norte's farmers to "continue with their farm works" amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Maagad led the distribution of DA-10 RFFA to 3,719 rice farmers in the 12 municipalities of Lanao del Norte on from April 20-23, 2020.
'Kadiwa on Wheels' continues
Meanwhile, farmers and consumers continue to benefit from the Kadiwa on Wheels program by DA-10 in two barangays in Cagayan de Oro City this week.
Spearheaded by the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD), DA-10 continues its collaboration with the City Agriculture Office and farmer-associations in bringing agri-fishery products directly to the consumers in barangay Balulang and Gusa, this city.
Johanie Buawaya of the Canitoan Farmer’s Association Multi-Purpose Cooperative is thankful that they were able to dispose their produce.
“Before, our eggplants rotted since we have difficulty in disposing them. Through DA’s Kadiwa on Wheels, we earned around PHP40,000 a day.”
The same response was also shared by True Chef Sales Representative Regel Capuyan, who said that Kadiwa on Wheels helped them with their sales when they had an oversupply of goods.
"We sought DA’s assistance for possible market and Kadiwa was the answer," he said. (PNA)
