AMIA Village in Cebu holds field day
To cap the season long training on vegetable production for climate resiliency agriculture (CRA), a field day and harvest festival was held recently at the AMIA Village in Mantalongon, Dalaguete, Cebu.
Dalaguete is one of the identified pilot municipality of the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) that is a high risk area and prone to erosion.
During the months-long training, various climate resilient agriculture (CRA) technologies were demonstrated to the six farmer associations (FA) of the AMIA Village.
These AMIA village FAs are Mantalongon Irrigators Association (MIA), Kapunungan sa mga Mag-uuma sa Sigpit (KAMSI), Mag-uuma sa Mantalongon nga Nagpakabana (MAMANA), Suwa Mantalongon Farmers’ Association (SUMAFA), Lahug Mantalongon Farmers’ Association (LAMFA), and Grandcina Vegetable Farmer Irrigators’ Association (GVFIA).
Anton Tangayan, Science Research Specialist encouraged the farmers in the area to adopt the different CRA technologies introduced in the training. He said that the demo was conducted in two or three cropping period to know which of the months have the most plant damages due to weather conditions.
These technologies in various growing conditions, which the FA closely observed were on open field and protected cultivation. Among the CRA practices include the use of mulching, rain shelter, drip irrigation and the Sloping Land Agriculture Technology (SALT). All these are mitigating measures amidst climate change.
These technologies, he said reduce labor inputs, prevent the occurrence of pests and diseases, and conserve soil and water.
Tangayan also recommended to conduct soil analysis prior to planting to know the presence of nutrient in the soil, kind of crops suited in the area and the recommended fertilizer application.
AMIA farmer-participant Maria Concepcion Ufana shared her learning on the various CRA technologies that need to be adopted with this climate change. Applying the technologies, she said will greatly improve their production and livelihood.
Giving also their support to AMIA Program are Cebu Technological University (CTU) – Argao Campus, Department of Trade Industry (DTI) and LGU Dalaguete.