THE City Government of Davao through the City Agriculturist Office (Cagro) on Friday awarded the barangays with the best “Gulayan sa Barangay."
The awards are given to barangays who actively participated and have “demonstrated exceptional achievements in organic farming, environmental sustainability, and community engagement.”
During the program, Barangay Bago Oshiro won first place in the urban category, while Barangay Biao Guianga won the same award in the Rural Category.
For the urban category: Barangay Bago Aplaya placed second, while Barangay Panacan placed third.
For the rural category: Talomo River placed second, while Barangay Mabuhay placed third.
Worth Php 50,000 each was given to first placers, P30,000 to second placers, and P20,000 to third place.
Going on for 20 years now, the Gulayan sa Barangay program is a testament to the continuing interest of barangays to grow healthy food, said Cagro Municipal Agricultural Officer Estelita Pilar Valdez.
“So far murag 20 years na ang Gulayan sa Barangay sa office, successful gihapon, naa gihapon ang interest sa mga barangay to join. (So around 20 years now the Gulayan sa Barangay by Cagro, it is still successful, the barangays are still very interested to join)” she said.
To qualify for this contest, a barangay should have a common area as a garden, 500 square meters of rural barangay, and 100 square meters of urban barangay. A barangay who wants to join the contest needs to secure a certificate of participation.
For the city level, where there are many barangays, the district-level- Gulayan sa Barangay contest joined by barangays was conducted to determine the representative for the city-wide contest.
Valdez said that this year’s winners have shown good and strong relationships between barangays and stakeholders for the sustainability of their Gulayan.
“Ang nidaog karon, na sustain gyud nila nga naay involvement ang sa barangay and stakeholders sa community as a whole (The winners this year were able to sustain their involvement, the involvement of the barangay, stakeholders, and the community as well),” she said.
She said aside from the plot of land developed, included in the assessment the households, schools, and organizations within the barangay who were “adopters” or those who created and made use of their own space for a garden.
The beneficiaries of these gardens are mostly-- daycare centers and families in need of food.
Some barangays use their products for entrepreneurial purposes, and the income is used for the maintenance of their garden.
Valdez encouraged Dabawenyos to opt for organic farming for its various benefits.
“Gi-awhag ang atong Dabawenyos, kay karon daghan na kaayo ang sakit nga nagawas we must go organic na. Naa lang pud mi diri sa City Agri if you want to learn organic farming. Pwede mag conduct og training. (We encourage Dabawenos since many diseases are coming out, we now switch to organic. We are just here at the City Agri if you want to learn organic farming. We conduct training),” she said.
She encouraged Dabawenyos to visit and support the Organic Farmer’s Market every Thursday and Friday at Rizal Park. CIO
