Information Service Section (ISS) Staff of ATI Northern Mindanao visited the ATI in the Cordillera through a benchmarking activity to gain learnings and insights about the various implementation of Learning Sites for Agriculture in the region last April 25-28, 2023.
Mr. Charlie C. Sagudan, Training Center Director of ATI-RTC-CAR warmly welcomed the group and hoped that the activity would be a fruitful one. Mr. Bongbong Buli-e, Institutional Committee member, assisted the group to each office where they exchanged ideas and observed how each office implemented its programs including ISO-related matters.
For their first LSA visit, the group went to the Lily of the Valley (LOV), a certified LSA and TESDA-accredited farm school located at Ampasit, Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet. Mr. Jeferson Laruan, the owner of the farm shared his experiences and farm practices with the group. He said that all of his compost fertilizers derive from his farm by gathering available weeds and/or grasses and turning them into compost fertilizer. His diversified cropping technique enables his farm to produce six to ten varieties of vegetables in one cropping. These vegetables include broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, salad greens, and kale. He said that as a TESDA-accredited farm school, his farm renders NC I and II to students and individuals who wanted to venture into agriculture as an enterprise.
The second visit was at the “The Masters Garden” operated by Mr. Patricio “Pat” Acosta. He said that he is the steward of the garden as the owner belongs to God – “The Master.” The group was surprised at how The Masters Garden generated its income with salad greens as a crop and only one farmer-laborer who tends the less than 1,500 sqm lot. There were about 15 varieties of salad greens being produced all year round harvesting twice a week. These 15 varieties of salad greens are being cycled upon harvest. He used green manuring and plant-based compost as this is the best fertilizer mother earth has offered. He recommends wood ash as one of the best versatile fertilizers that a farmer can apply to his farm because of its root system that was accumulated through time thus getting more nutrients. Aside from wood ash, he also recommends seaweed as fertilizer because of its high sodium content. According to him, his garden “The Masters Garden” is the first farm in the Cordillera to be certified as an organic farm by the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP).
Their third visit was at Cosmic Farm located in Beckel, La Trinidad, Benguet. The farm is a family-run farm business enterprise. The farm follows several organic practices such as green manuring, crop rotation, and intercropping. It produces various highland vegetables such as Malabar (alugbati), basil, beet leaf, broccoli, brussels sprout, cherry tomato, amaranth (calunay), celery, chives, dill, physalis, Gotu kola, heirloom broccoli, Japanese cucumber, kale, kangkong, leeks, lettuce, madeira vine, etc. Accordingly, the group was surprised about the pricing of Cosmic Farm because of its highly-priced organic vegetables.
The fourth visit was in Sanagi Agri-Tourism Farm owned and operated by Mr. Shawn Dale Bitso, a farmer-youth entrepreneur whose passion for mushroom production is now gaining a momentous upsurge in sales because of its high demand. He said that locally, he cannot supply all the needs of his clients because of the high demand but only a few are engaged in mushroom growing. He explained that “Sanagi” means siblings or brother/sister. This is a "small-brother-big-brother" for sharing and helping each other for the upliftment of living conditions and empowering each entrepreneurial skill. His mushroom enterprise is one of the lucky entries for the regional and national youth in agri-preneurship program which he received an award.
The fifth LSA visited was at Garden nen Inez, owned and operated by Mr. Fernando Gonzales whose passion for cutflowers dominates his backyard with lots of anthuriums. For his briefing, he said that his garden is planted with anthuriums with at least sixty varieties of flowering and foliage types. The garden is located Shilan, La Trinidad, Benguet.
The group acknowledged that the visit is one-of-a-kind because they were impressed with the different techniques and farm practices of farmer-entrepreneur.
One cannot resist seeing the Northern Blossom Flower Farm and Sakura Park of Atok, Benguet where the group spent their fourth day before finally departing back to their official station.
