Davao City — Vegetable farmers in Baracatan, Toril, Davao City adopt precision agriculture technology to double their yield and improve quality of their produce.Â
The Bridge of Blessing Farmers Agriculture Cooperative (BBFAC) partnered with Israeli-based company to engage in Modern Cluster Farming Technology. Evangeline B. Bartolazo, BBFAC Chairperson says their cooperative was formed in 2017 and ventured in high-value vegetables such as lettuce, cauliflower, and salad tomato including eggplant, upo, and ampalaya.Â
“It is important to convince farmers and their respective cooperatives and associations or FCAs to collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and assistance provided by the DA and other government agencies,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
“Secondly, it is easier and more cost-efficient and effective for the DA to deal with organized farmers through their FCAs than individual farmers, as we provide them appropriate training and cutting-edge technologies, including farm inputs like seeds and fertilizers, and farm equipment and machinery,” Dar added..
Before being organized into a co-op, individual farmers plant vegetable which Bartolazo says could not meet the volume and quality required by the market. Moreover, since they are located in the uplands with around 1,000 meters above sea level, source of water is one of their major constraints.
“Our crops wilted during dry season since we could hardly cope the need to water them,” she said. Their break came after the Netafim, one of the world’s pioneering irrigation company identified them as the demo site for its Modern Cluster Farming Technologies.
“We invested P2-million to replicate the technology we introduced in India such as establishment of viable water source, application of drip fertigation technology, and training on effective irrigation system,” says Alex Gamutan, NetaPhils CEO.
Bartolazo says the assistance they received enabled them to increase their yield, improve quality of produce, and lower production cost.
“Unlike before that we manually water our plants and broadcast our fertilizer application, we now reduced labor cost and save on inputs,” she said stressing: “Drip fertigation cut the labor and input cost. We used to consume 3-4 sacks of fertilizer per application, but with the new technology we only consumed 8-10 kilograms per application, plus it directly penetrates the roots for the plants’ better nutrient absorption.”
BBFAC now regularly supplies major market in Davao City including one institutional buyer.
Department of Agriculture-XI (DA-XI) Regional Director Ricardo Oñate, Jr. says farm clustering and consolidation is now actively push as one of the key strategies to level up the Philippine agriculture sector.
“It is important for farmers such as the BBFAC to collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and assistance provided by the DA and private sector,” Oñate said.
“Clustering and consolidation leads to attaining economies of scale. This will enable them to greatly reduce their cost of operations, attain bountiful harvests, and earn better incomes,” Oñate added.-Newsline.ph
