Leyte gov’t expands compact farming

SAN MIGUEL, Leyte, Dec. 10 (PNA) – The Leyte provincial government is expanding its compact farming program in this town.

Brenda Calonge, 45, from Sta. Cruz village is one of the 60 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries who just completed training on introducing cultivation technology for backyard farming.

A single mother of five, her family heavily depends on the fishing income of her eldest child. The family's meager income is augmented with financial support from the government through the conditional cash transfer.

Life is not easy for them since there were times that they have nothing to eat. It was only when they became 4Ps recipients that her perennial problem was partly solved.

But the assistance from the national government is not enough to sustain their needs, prompting her to join compact-farming training sponsored by the local government.

They were trained by personnel from the provincial agriculturist office through the "More Income in the Countryside-Program" launched by Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla.

Although they don’t have enough space to plant vegetables, she already have a plan on how she can grow high-value crops in their backyard.

“I will use empty plastic bottles, cans and plastic to grow them,” said Calonge.

The beneficiaries were selected by the school management of Sta. Cruz National High School who introduced ways on how they could help 4Ps recipients of the village to alleviate their living conditions, said Mayor Cheeryl Enrica Esperas.

“I hope that the values that were taught to them will stay with them and not only the technology that was shared by their trainers. Because if they will not treasure the knowledge that was given to them there’s no sustainability of this project,” said Esperas.

Esperas said training locals on modern farming is in line with their goal to make the town as one of the vegetable-producing areas in the province. (PNA)
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