LEGAZPI CITY – A farmer's organization based in Naga City has earned a high gross income of PHP501,762 from its vegetable production in 2021.
Maria Gracia Sales, Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO), said the Panicuason Farmers Association (PFA), with 65 members from Panicuason, Naga City, was able to achieve such high sales through interventions by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program.
EPAHP was formed in support of the government’s food security and hunger mitigation programs where community gardens are being established in the agrarian reform communities.
Sales added that the members regularly sold a variety of vegetables all year round to the market and institutional buyers in the past year.
They also deliver to a consolidator in Ocampo town who, in turn, supplies the vegetables to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
“There is a non-government organization that regularly buys in bulk and distributes it for free to the public. Sometime in 2022, PFA also supplied vegetables to Mother Seton Hospital, the most modern hospital in Naga City today,” she said.
PFA Manager Rolando Cruzata said some of the organization’s members buy the harvests from their colleagues and sell them individually at the Naga City People’s Market as well as in their own community stores.
He said the association is confident in sustaining the strong sales since they have already established a community garden of their own and as natural farming practitioners and advocates, their community garden which is actively managed by 15 members produces a variety of vegetables such as water spinach, eggplants, string beans, tomatoes, chayote, among others.
“Apart from the communal garden, other members are also growing their own food on their diversified farms. They sell their vegetables within the community, and the surplus is taken to the market. They have also established a group of “suki” [loyal customers] at local eateries in the city,” Cruzata said.
Meanwhile, PFA president Eduardo Brosola said the DAR’s support has enabled them to get a much-needed extra source of income since the onslaught of the pandemic.
“This is a big help to us. We really need the seedlings and additional gardening tools. DAR’s assistance was very helpful. Thank you very much,” Brosola said. (With a report from Eliakim Neric/PNA-OJT)
