For members of the Bauko Organic Practitioners Association (BOPA) in Monamon Norte, Bauko, Mountain Province, vegetable production is not just a household gardening hobby, but has become a profitable enterprise especially when organic vegetable farming has added up as an income source through the organization.

Carmen Malinias, now more than 60 and a member of the BOPA, said that she has been tilling the soil for more than three decades and narrates that they have been practicing minimal pesticide application, so shifting to organic vegetable production was not a problem.

The problem, she says, lies mostly on the natural calamities that visit the country each year, damaging their crops’ protected areas, and losing so much in terms of income.

“Dinadael ti bagyo ti patakder mi nga paglinongan na ti organic vegetables mi, isu nga basit ti ma-ideliver mi idjay Baguio ken Manila (typhoon has damaged the protective sheds that we built for our organic vegetable gardens decreasing our deliveries in Baguio and Manila),” she said.

The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA PRDP), through its small livelihood project (SLP) approach under the I-REAP (Enterprise Development) component, came into the scene on time. The approach aims to provide sustainable income generating activities to farmers whose livelihoods are affected by natural disasters.

Thus, the BOPA became a beneficiary of the SLP approach by funding the “Rehabilitation of Protected Areas for Organic Vegetable Production” project worth P1.69 million.

The project’s objective is to rehabilitate the protected areas for the production of organic vegetables and to sustain demand of markets, stabilize or ensure vegetable supply and protect cultivation technology and organic agriculture practices.

Accordingly, the BOPA has been producing and supplying organic vegetables to elite markets like LaTOP in La Trinidad, Benguet, Porta Vaga Mall and the Cordillera Market (Hangar Market) in Baguio City, and other trading centers in Bontoc and Bauko, Mt. Province. However, sustainability of supply to cater to these outlet’s demands were not met due to crop damage caused by typhoons, insufficient capital to support repairs of facilities and lack of input support for production.

The project rehabilitated greenhouses technology to protected farming areas of organic vegetables like lettuce, french beans, and carrots. These structures adopt the greenhouse technology to protect seedlings during rainy season which are sold to cooperative members.

The structures protect the vegetables from strong winds and rainfall and most of all speed up vegetable growth, according to the organization members.

Nora Caligtan, Chairman of the BOPA revealed that the total production area covered under this project is around 8,800 square meters, producing an estimate of 8,918 kg of lettuce, 9,603 kg French beans, 15,640 kg carrots among others all year round.

“Planting these vegetables under the greenhouse gives a year round harvest,” she said.

Calitan added that the project will align with their objectives to increase the number of organic farmers in their area.

“We are grateful for this project because our enterprise is attracting more farmers to become members, at the same time we are welcoming them so that more farmers will produce organic vegetables which is a profitable enterprise,” Caligtan said. ### Mabel B. Zabala (DA PRDP)