BRGY. PONGTUD, Alegria, Surigao del Norte – In response to the call of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) identified areas as priorities for government support, the Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center (ATI-RTC) XIII conducted a two-day Seminar on Vegetable Production with Provision on Extension Support on August 9-10, 2021.

There were 22 vegetable growers who successfully completed the activity which aims to ensure continuous food production through vegetable gardening in their community. This is anchored in the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) “Plant, Plant, Plant Program” or “Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Laban sa Covid-19 program.

Participants were able to learn the proper care and maintenance of vegetable production from seedling preparation to harvesting stage; identify vegetable families such as solanaceous, cucurbits, and brassica, know the integrated pest and diseases management; explain what is Nature Farming Technology System (NFTS); and cite materials and procedures of organic fertilizers and pesticides production.

Joisel A. Benitez and Glena Mariel L. Cubelo from the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) were the resource persons of the activity.

Preparation of organic concoctions such as Fermented Fruit Juice (FFJ), Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ), Oriental herbal Nutrient (OHN), and Fish Amino Acid (FAA) was also done as part of their hands-on demonstration.