Sustainability via vegetable farming

A quarter-hectare vegetable garden that earns P40,000 (about US $930) in 70 days sounds too good to be true in the Philippine hinterland where modern farming technology is wanting. But a group of women and farmers in Tagaytay, a poor farming village in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, is the proud owner of just such an enterprise, thanks to the spirit of bayanihan (cooperativism) of members. A total of 12 types of high-value commercial vegetables are teeming in the group’s small yet lush garden – a most welcome sight for the participants to the village’s first Modelong Gulayan ng Bayan (Model Community Vegetable Farm) Festival.

Many say the garden is probably the best thing that happened to Tagaytay, an impact community of the copper-zinc mining operations of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) in Canatuan, some 19 kilometers northeast of Siocon. The company initiated the garden for Tagaytay residents as part of TVIRD’s livelihood program for host and impact barangays surrounding its operations. TVIRD uses Tagaytay’s roads in transporting copper concentrates to Siocon’s Santa Maria Port.

“Now, people come to our village to buy our vegetable produce,” says Remigia Gubantes, Tagaytay barangay chair and garden project spearhead. “But aside from earning extra money from this new undertaking, we are now assured of food on our dining tables every day.

Since they began harvesting in early May until second week of June, Gubantes’ group – called Tagaytay Siocon Association (TAGASA) – has earned a net income of P15,035 (about $350). “The members expect to earn more because they have yet to harvest the other vegetables in their garden,” says Miguel Aguilar a vegetable expert from East-West, contracted by TVIRD to provide the seedlings to the villagers.

“By the end of July, their gross income could reach around P40,000 before they begin to plant new seedlings again,” he adds.

Tagaytay’s success story began last March when Gubantes accepted an offer from agriculturists of TVIRD’s Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO) to convert her small plot of land into a model vegetable farm.

“I was challenged when they told me that I could earn more income with vegetables rather than corn, which I planted before,” relates Gubantes. As the village head, she also wanted her constituents to share in the promised bounty. She called on her fellow TAGASA members to join the project.

TVIRD has been implementing projects geared towards attaining sustainable development in its host and impact communities. “This is one way of transferring technology so they will have alternative livelihood and additional income sources, aside from rice and coconut farming,” Joel Alasco, CReDO Manager, explains.

The Modelong Gulayan project, he adds, “seeks to demonstrate to farmers that vegetable farming holds a great promise.”

TVIRD agriculturists Carlos Tuerco and Crisanto Indangan worked closely with TAGASA to plant the seeds of progress – literally. They were joined by Aguilar Cesar Limbag of Du Pont Far East Chemicals, which provided the pesticides.

Tuerco, Indangan, Aguilar and Limbag then took turns every week to impart to TAGASA members the proper methods of planting and nurturing the vegetables. They also gave seeds and other materials and even pesticides when needed. On the other hand, the members showed great interest in learning the intricacies of vegetable farming.

TVIRD Mines Department Manager Pete Remoto, who attended the harvest festival, says he was really impressed with what he saw. “This is the fruit of a concerted effort between the private sector and the community. Surely there will be a significant positive result when everybody unites for a single purpose,” he says. He confides later that he is thinking of having a vegetable garden of his own.

The vegetables found in TAGASA’s model farm include hot pepper, eggplant, pechay (Chinese cabbage), bitter melon, white squash, cucumber, string beans, squash, tomato, sweet corn and glutinous corn — the kinds of crops that are considered high-value and commercially in-demand in whatever season.

“Some 70% of Siocon’s regular vegetable supplies are sourced from other places such as nearby Sindangan; Dipolog City some 6 hours away; and even as far as Cagayan de Oro City,” Aguilar points out.

“Tagaytay’s model farm has the potential to change that picture. If it can be sustained, the supply of vegetables in Siocon could come from the local farmers themselves,” he added.

The signs are encouraging. The buyers of TAGASA’s vegetable produce have expanded to include not just the retailers from the Siocon public market, but also traders from the neighboring towns of Sirawai and Baliguian. Tagaytay has become their new source of vegetables.

Gubantes says the sharing of profits from their income depends on the hours each member of their group has contributed to the garden. “Sometimes, they take only vegetable products as part of their share. The bulk of our earnings, however, will go to the association,” she points out.

“I am really thankful for what the company has done for us,” she adds. “In the past, TVIRD personnel taught us how to plant vegetables for our consumption, now they’ve also taught us how to make money from vegetable farming.” Gubantes was referring to CReDO’s Food Always In The Home (FAITH) program, which TVIRD implemented in impact barangays surrounding about two years ago.

Carlos Tuerco says it is the goal of the company to transfer modern farming technology to other impact barangays as well. “Leaving host and impact communities with the ability to stand on their own in a sustainable manner is one of the trademarks of responsible mining,” he says. “We are fully aware that mining is temporary. To prepare our neighbors, we share with them the technologies they need to stimulate the local economy, now and beyond the life of our mine. That is exactly what’s happening now in Tagaytay.” (Joseph Arnel Deliverio)