Leyte farmers’ group eyes nationwide market chain KANANGA, Leyte – Farmer-partners of the Bangon Mini-Farms Association in Leyte is on intensive field test growing of the 19 varieties of vegetables that will be supplied to a nationwide market chain within this year. This development was learned during the Board of Trustees meeting for the Bangon Mini-Farms Association Alpha Sector Inc. held on Wednesday, July 16 at the headquarters of the 19th Infantry Battalion in Brgy. Aguiting, Kananga, Leyte. Director Domingo Diaz, member of Landbank Board of Trustees who pioneered the Bangon Mini Farm concept in Super Typhoon “Yolanda” affected areas in Samar and Leyte, said a memorandum of agreement is underway between Bangon and a certain market chain in Cebu. With this significant progress, Mr. Gil Carandang, the Father of Philippine Organic Farming who also sits in the Board of Trustees for the Bangon Mini-Farms Alpha Sector Association Inc., will schedule a weeklong field audit to assess the productivity of all of the 19 vegetables required by the would-be market. Field audits shall cover Ormoc City, Kananga, Capoocan, Carigara, San Isidro, Calubian and Jaro all of Leyte province and will be assisted by the 19th Infantry Battalion as one of the key facilitators of the project. During the meeting, Director Diaz handed over the Alpha Sector’s Certificate of Incorporation (COI) which was issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 18 this year. The COI contains Company Reg. Nr. CN201411778 and Company TIN 008-801-182 signed by Dir. Ferdinand B. Sales, of SEC’s Company Registration and Monitoring Department. The memberships of Bangon Alpha rouse from 100 to 426 farmer-partners seven months after ST Yolanda. This increase in number was caused when original members of Bangon conducted their own trainings to bring others to the program, similar to what the 19th Infantry Battalion did to its Farmers Associations in the municipalities of Kananga, Calubian, San Isidro and Jaro and in Ormoc City. Recently, Bangon’s Ormoc City cluster opened its farmer’s market in Brgy. Camp Downes. The said market sells organic vegetable products and is open Friday to Sunday every week. Lt. Col. Nedy Espulgar, commanding officer of 19IB, said the program is indeed beneficial to indigent farmers whose income is within the poverty threshold. With this program, a farmer with a 1000 square meters of plantable area can earn up to Php 16, 000.00 a month. Lt. Col. Espulgar also hope that the program will attract more people, especially the rebels who chose to fight in bloody battles rather than in ending poverty and hunger through sustainable, organic and natural farming.###
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 07:05:11 +0000