Department of Agriculture Region IV-CALABARZON and the Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM) based in Camp Riego de Dios in Tanza, Cavite have celebrated the graduation of 49 new organic agriculture enthusiasts under the regional office's Farmers Field School in Organic Vegetable Production Program on August 20.
From April 30 to August 13, 49 Army officials from ARESCOM received training on organic vegetable production under DA's FFS.
Aside from that, they also received interventions like vegetable seeds, seedling trays, plastic mulch, nets, garden tools, compost fertilizer, cassava cuttings, mushroom production units, and livestock modules in a bid to further their knowledge in organic agriculture and hone their farming skills in order to improve food production in the camp.
DA CALABARZON Regional Executive Director Arnel de Mesa, the graduation guest of honor, appreciated the graduates who gave their time and efforts in learning the basics of organic agriculture.
"Farming is never an easy job and farmers are our real-life heroes who never fail to give us healthy and delicious food. May this program be a stepping stone into keeping not just ARESCOM food sufficient, but also the rest of Cavite specially during this COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
De Mesa pledged to give additional livestock modules like goats and poultry to ARESCOM, as well as a brand-new multi-tiller to help them in preparing their farm lands.
ARESCOM's Maj. Gen.Peale Jon Bondoc expressed his gratitude to DA CALABARZON's support to make their campsite food sufficient through organic agriculture.
One of the graduates, Maj. John Geronimo said his farming knowledge was developed by the campsite project, adding "This farming course helped me realize the real importance of agriculture, especially during the COVID-19 crisis that we are facing at the moment. This will not just help the camp, but other people can also benefit from whatever we will harvest or grow in our farms."
On the other hand, Command Sgt. Maj. Artemio Obena said they learned everything from making organic fertilizers to keeping their crops safe by using organic pesticides and insecticides.
"I learned a lot from FFS and for someone who is about to retire, this intervention from DA will help me a lot in my retirement", he said.
This FFS in Organic Vegetable Production is only one of the many programs under DA's Integrated Organic Agriculture Production Project in coordination with ARESCOM which aims to mitigate the impact of the pandemic through adoption of proven and effective agricultural processes.