The Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) has assured support to the provincial government’s “SUGBUsog sa Eskuylahan” program in a bid to enhance food production, especially during the prevailing pandemic.
Lawyer Salvador Diputado, regional executive director of DA-7, in a statement on Monday, expressed the DA’s support to the program through the provision of farm inputs such as vegetable seeds and organic fertilizers, among others.
He said the program is in response to the call of Agriculture Secretary William Dar to local government units to boost farm production amid the health crisis.
DA-7 is one of the three national agencies that signed a tripartite agreement last Thursday (April 8) for the program’s implementation. The two others are the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-7 and the Department of Education (DepEd)-7 as the base agency.
Dubbed as “SUGBUsog, Estudyanteng Busog, Luwas ug Himsog,” Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia shared that the program aims to make the province food sufficient and independent from other provinces’ food supply.
Diputado noted that DA-7 will also provide basic production technology trainings and other logistic support to the program, while DOST-7 will provide the necessary training on product value-adding and other by-products processing.
Among the vegetable seeds to be distributed by DA-7 to the public elementary and high schools are okra, cucumber, eggplant and squash.
DepEd-7 is tasked to monitor its implementation.
Garcia plans to launch a contest for the most productive and beautiful garden in all the participating schools in the province to encourage them to actively participate in the program.
Meanwhile, in an earlier meeting between the governor, Diputado, Philippine Coconut Authority-7 regional manager Brendan Trasmonte, provincial agriculturist Roldan Saragena and the top officials of Cebu Technological University (CTU)-Barili campus, they discussed the plan to establish a hybrid coco nursery facility in the school’s more than 90 hectares of idle land.
Garcia plans to establish a coco nursery in the province to optimize coconut production and ensure the livelihood and productivity of coco farmers in the province. (PNA)
