QUEZON CITY -- The Department of Agrarian Reform  (DAR) in the province of Cavite conducted a harvest festival at a 6,000 sq.m. vegetable demo farm at Joselito Tibayan’s Farm in Palangue 2-3, Naic, Cavite. 

DAR-Cavite Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II James Arthur T. Dubongco said the demo farm of vegetables is in partnership with DAR provincial office in Cavite, Naic municipal government, Department of Agriculture (DA), East-West Seed Philippines, and Palangue Agrarian Reform Cooperative (PARC).

He disclosed that the demo farm showcased a variety of vegetables and served as the learning field for the twenty-eight  (28) farmer-members of the three (3) DAR assisted agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs) enrolled under the DAR’s Farm Business School (FBS), where farming technology was introduced.

“Your established demo farm is undeniably the fruit of your hard work, coordination, and unity. We want to congratulate all of you on the successful implementation of the project. So you can see, there is money in farming and vegetable production,” Dubongco said. 

Joselito Tibayan, demo farm owner and PARC manager, expressed his sincere gratitude, on behalf of their association, to the DAR and other implementing agencies of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for exerting all efforts to help them.

“Thank you, DAR, DA, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), local government unit (LGU) of Naic, East-West Seed, and other partner agencies for your unrelenting support to the association. We are deeply touched by your determination to uplift the status of our lives by simply providing us the different support services,” Tibayan said. 

Tibayan said he believes that five (5) years from now, the lives of farmers will change and their lives will improve positively.

“Farming is one type of a business that should be studied well on how it can be developed by the farmers,” he said.

Before the harvest festival, the twenty-eight  (28) farmer-members were grouped into two (2) for their tour in the demo farm, wherein representatives from East-West Seed explained the varieties of the vegetables from hybrid vegetable seeds and their remarkable characteristics.

East-West Seed Farmers Promotion representative John Lord Anglo said their mission is to provide innovative products and services that will help increase the income of vegetable farmers and promote the growth and quality of the tropical vegetable industry.

“ A healthy seed is a good start for planting right,” Anglo said.

To culminate the harvest festival, a graduation ceremony was conducted for the twenty-eight (28) beneficiaries who completed the FBS training to acknowledge the effort of the beneficiaries who contributed to the success of the project. They attended 25 sessions composed of eight modules, which started July 27, 2021. (DAR)