THE Department of Agrarian Reform cited the six (6) farmer-scientists for extending their technical know-how to develop the first successful urban vegetable gardening project that the department pursued in what used to be a football field owned by the Saint John Bosco Parish in Tondo, Manila.
DAR-Cavite provincial agrarian reform program officer James Arthur Dubongco identified the six farmer-scientists as Joselito Tibayan, Allan Marjes Tibayan and Roberto Mojica, all officers of the Palanque Agrarian Reform Cooperative in Naic; Danilo Arnes and Mario Profeta of Tres Cruces Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Farmers Association; and, Teresita Villanueva of Barangay Bunga Farmers Association in Tanza.
Dubongco commended them for voluntarily sharing their proven farming techniques to Tondo residents who took part in the project, dubbed as Buhay sa Gulay, a brain-child of DAR Secretary John R. Castriciones.
“You have not denied your talents and skill in the field of farming. Your response became a signal for the success of the said project. Thank you for your time and knowledge,” Dubongco said.
Brother John pursued the project in partnership with Fr. Gaudencio Carandang, parish priest of the Saint John Bosco Parish, after the former noticed the idle football field while he and fellow DAR officials were distributing food packs two months ago to selected local residents living within the immediate vicinity of the parish church.
The DAR provided the farm inputs and the tractor and other farm implements that were used to cultivate the idle lot, while local residents, led by their barangay chairmen, volunteered to do the farming.
Pleased with the result of their first urban vegetable gardening project, Brother John said many local government units in Metro Manila had approached his office to have the project replicated in their respective localities, among them the Quezon and Caloocan City governments.###
