Banaue rice terraces being converted to veggie farms

By Juan B. Dait, Jr.

BANAUE, Ifugao—Some 20 hectares of abandoned rice terraces in this highland tourist town are currently being reopened and converted into vegetable farms under an arrangement among the local government unit, the Department of Agriculture and the National Economic Development Authority.

The tri-agency project, called the Alternative Vegetable Production (AVP), calls for the municipal government of Banaue under Mayor Lino Madchiw to organize the rice terraces farmers through the conduct of regular advocacy and institutional building sessions.

The DA will provide technical assistance to the terraces farmers and establish nurseries and demonstration areas where the farmers will learn from agricultural technicians the rudiments and techniques of vegetable farming.

The NEDA will provide funding for the operations of the AVP project for year 2009. The agency has already allocated a grant of P680,000 and mobilization is now in full swing, according to Jimmy Cabigat, Banaue municipal agriculturist and head of the agricultural team.

Mayor Machiw’s office is in charge of the implementation of the project which aims to supplement the meager harvest of rice terraces farmers through vegetable production and ultimately make terraces farmers economically self-sufficient.

Nine barangays of this town have been initially selected for the implementation of the AVP project. The barangayts are: Poblacion, Viewpoint, Amganad, Tam-an, Gohang, Oha, Kinakin, Bocos and Anaba.

Cabigat said that the following vegetables will be raised in the gardens: cabbage, wongbok, beans, squash, carrots, eggplant, ampalaya and okra.

Marketing of the vegetables produce will not be a problem, according to Cabigat. Aside from the local market in this town and adjacent municipalities like Hingyon and Lagawe, the vegetables can be absorbed by the markets in the lowlands like Isabela and Nuve Vizcaya including Bontoc in Mt. Province

Mayor Machiw is highly optimistic that in the light of the present economic crisis which had also affected his town, the Alternative Vegetable Production project which he heads will greatly alleviate the plight o this town’s low-income rice terraces and help solve the nutritional problems of school children.

Many of Banaue’s world-famous rice terraces have dried up or have been abandoned due to such factors as destroyed or non-functional irrigation systems, low yield from harvests from the rice terraces, immigration of farmers to other places like the mining areas to look for better job opportunities, and the lack of interest of the Ifugao youth to cultivate the rice terraces.