DA to open veggie farm in Bukidnon

THE Department of Agriculture ( DA) will open a 10,000-hectare new vegetable plantation in Bukidnon expected to make the province a major source of high value vegetables by mid-2019.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the DA would provide funding, resources and technical support to a group of vegetable farmers in Talakag, Bukidnon to develop an estimated 10,000 hectares of high-elevation fertile lands.

Citing farmers in the area, he said that the current cultivated vegetable farmland in Talakag is only about 1,000 hectares.

“In response to the request of the farmers, I have directed Undersecretary for High Value Crops Evelyn Laviña, Undersecretary for Agribusiness Gabriel Laviña and Director Carlene Collado of DA Region 10 to deliver the needed support and inputs,” Piñol said in a statement.

“Small tractors with rotavators will be dispatched to the area to immediately start the development of the new vegetable farms,” he added.

The DA will also provide farmers with training and education in modern technology with the help of a private seeds and high value vegetable production company Harbest.

“Toto Barcelona of Harbest will also teach farmers modern vegetable growing technology and provide seeds,” said the DA secretary.

The Agricultural Credit Policy Council, an agency under the DA, will also provide funding support for the farmers.

Talakag is a remote mountain town of Bukidnon near the boundary of Lanao del Sur where roads have just been opened. A large area of Talakag’s agriculture land is used for rice, corn and various root crops.

“By mid-2019, the Talakag Area is expected to be a new major source of high value vegetables

- cient supply in the market,” Piñol said.

Some of the high-value crops the province produces include broccoli, lettuce and cabbage.