Food security, fight vs. malnutrition top priorities for CAGRO Tagum

By  City of Tagum Information Office

 CITY OF TAGUM, DAVAO DEL NORTE—The City Agriculture Office is reinforcing its mandate to ensure food security for Tagumeños as a conduit to the local government’s vision of minimizing, if not totally eradicate, the prevalence of malnutrition in the city.

City Agriculturist Harold S. Dawa bared that CAGRO is now working on its Enhanced Vegetable Program which is anchored on sustainable and profitable farming as well as a support mechanism to the nutrition program of the local government.

The CAGRO chief announced this during the awarding rites of this year’s winners of the LGU-led Search for Best Gulayan sa Barangay last July 31, 2013 which also concluded the month-long observance of the city of the 39th Nutrition Month.

Under the program, Dawa said his office will assist barangay based-farmers by providing them additional farming implements and supplies. Their office will also ensure the marketability of their produce.

This is in support to Mayor Allan Rellon’s agenda on agriculture stapled under his EAGLE WINGS program.

He said the task of ensuring that vegetable products contain high nutritional value is among their priorities and as such, they will be introducing the farming method by installing various greenhouses in the different Gulayan sa Barangay sites so as make vegetables pesticides-free.

Aside from extending help to the barangays, CAGRO will also strengthen its school-based vegetable gardening through its Gulayan sa Paaralan project.

Wednesday’s awarding ceremony was topped by Barangay San Isidro which claimed its three consecutive year-win as the city’s best vegetable farm, followed by Barangay Liboganon and Barangay Apokon.

A cookfest was also conducted during the event using different vegetable products harvested from their respective vegetable farms. Barangay Magugpo South got the top prize for the barangay level while Laureta National High School was given the same award for the high school category.

The event is among the various events initiated by the City Nutrition Council in time for the Nutrition Month as a way of increasing vegetable consumption, promote vegetable gardening as source of additional food and income, increase demand for vegetable to help local vegetable farmers and ultimately, to raise awareness on hunger issues and actions to mitigate hunger and malnutrition. Louie Lapat of CIO Tagum