by NTA Cagayan
TOBACCO grower Franklin Berbano, of Taguing, Baggao, Cagayan, a beneficiary of the NTA “Gulayan at Manukan sa Barangay” project, started harvesting his vegetables and poultry first week of November.
Berbano and 13 other tobacco growers in the province were the first batch of beneficiaries who were given free vegetable seed packs and Sasso chicks in August. The second batch had 39 beneficiaries.
According to Berbano, he sold part of the vegetables and the 25 free-range chicken that he harvested in his 100 square-meter farm lot, and will keep the rest for family consumption.
Alice A. Malab, Senior TPRO, Roberto F. Pedro, Agriculturist I, and staff from the Branch Operations Unit visited Berbano’s farm and other project sites in Baggao in November 5.
The project was in support of the food sufficiency program of the Department of Agriculture. NTA has allocated P10-million for the Gulayan at Manukan project from its realigned budget for 2020 as part of the intervention to support the farmers during the pandemic.
For Cagayan, the agency has allocated P500,000 for the two batches of beneficiaries
Franklin Berbano, flanked by Robert F. Pedro and Alice A. Malab shows his full-grown chicken (upper photos), and his vegetable farm (lower photo) during the project monitoring conducted by the NTA Cagayan Branch Office on November 5. (Photos: Orlando Arugay)