CAR teachers trained as organic aggie lecturers

By Jennyline S. Tabangcura

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The Benguet State University -National Organic Agriculture Research and Development Center or NOARDC initiated a regional trainers training on practical organic agriculture for Department of Education-Cordillera Administrative Region to integrate Organic Agriculture in Elementary, Secondary and Alternative Learning System Curriculum.

According to Noel Lenguaje, staff of NOARDC, the training at Landbank, BSU, La Trinidad, Benguet on May 12-16 will finalize the initial output of the organic farming awareness done with three representatives of each seven provinces in CAR including Baguio City November last year.

The representatives shall be main persons of the Organic Agriculture training in their respective provinces.

Topics regarding organic agriculture were discussed during the training such as urban gardening, soil testing, vermi composting, disease and weed management and marketing of organic products.

Lenguaje said main hindrance to success of the training was hesitance of farmers from conventional farming communities. “Integrating organic agriculture to the curriculum of students would let them appreciate the relevance of OA to food security, environment and for the people as well. Moreover, the information dissemination of Organic Agriculture would be easier to the farmers because it would be their children who will teach them then”, Lenguaje said.

Chester Bolcio, a staff of ALS in Kapangan, Benguet, said that it would be a challenge for them to integrate OA in their curriculum since the ALS program has no permanent buildings for their students.

 “I think we would first focus on the information dissemination of OA to our students. We will include it as a topic on their subjects such as Livelihood, Environment and Essay writing,” Bolcio said.

There were ten representatives from the Province of Apayao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Benguet and Baguio except Abra and Ifugao./ David Kidpo Jr. and May Songaben. 5-14-14