ZAMBOANGA CITY, Mar 17 (PIA) – Selected young people from La Victoria in La Libertad, Zamboanga del Norte underwent a training on Off Campus Urban Vegetable Organic Gardening and Edible Landscaping, recently.

The Department of Agriculture (DA)-IX in partnership with the Jose Rizal Memorial State University (JRMSU) trained some 40 4-H Club members on urban organic vegetable gardening that culminated last February 14, 2022.

The training was an initiative of the project leader JRMSU Professor Sergio M. Andolero with the cooperation of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), since the JMRSU is also an accredited ATI-Agriculture Learning Site-accredited ATI-Agriculture Learning Site.

Andolero said that the vegetable production training program of the university aims to train the youth in the province to be involved in agriculture and farming.

"We are grateful for the full support given to us by our partners - the Department of Agriculture (DA), the ATI and the local government of La Libertad through the Municipal Agriculture Office,” Andolero said, who is also a former ATI center manager.

DA9 Field Operations Division Chief, Reynaldo M. Campomanes told the youth to take pride of having parents who are farmers as they provide daily food on the table.

"If you're a daughter or son of a farmer, be proud because your parents, the farmers, are the ones who provide food for us, in our tables, especially during the pandemic. We hope that through this training, you as members of the 4H club will be able to inspire others with what you have learned in the lectures and demonstrations. We are glad that you choose food production in this training program, and we hope that your dedication can really bring you success because there is really a bright future in agriculture,” Campomanes said.

Meanwhile, DA9 Zamboanga del Norte Agricultural Provincial Coordinator George Vallente said that DA has delivered agricultural inputs in JRMSU, particularly some materials for the establishment of a vermi composting area for the production of organic fertilizers.

DA also provided some purple corn seeds as additional support and hope that the 4-H Club members will work hard and invest their free time in gardening.

After the program, the JRMSU extensionists and DA staff also demonstrated how to establish a raised garden bed utilizing plastic mulch.

The 4-H name represents four personal development areas of focus for the organization: head, heart, hands, and health. The goal of 4-H is to develop citizenship, leadership, responsibility and life skills of youth through experiential learning programs and a positive youth development approach. (RVC/PIA9 with reports from Aimee Lou Madjus/DA-RFO IX, RAFIS)