ARDEC’s Training Specialist, Ms. Estrella P. Rafil, explains the technology on contour farming using lemongrass as vegetative strips to a visitor during the trade fair exhibition as part of the weeklong celebration of Kalivungan Festival 2023 in Cotabato Province.

The Agroforestry Research, Development and Extension Center (ARDEC) of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) participated in the weeklong celebration of the Kalivungan Festival of Cotabato Province on its 109th founding anniversary from August 25 to September 1, 2023 through exhibit display at the Basket, Provincial Capitol Grounds, Amas, Kidapawan City, Cotabato Province in an effort to promote ARDEC as the center of excellence in agroforestry in Region XII.

The Kalivungan festival is a Manobo term for gathering to celebrate the area’s culture, talent, sports, music and food. Fruits from the forests of North Cotabato are widely known and popular throughout the Philippines. The small and sweet Peewee pomelos, the sweet purple Mangosteen fruits and the various varieties of Durian are just some of the agroforestry crops that give additional income to North Cotabato farmers making it worthwhile for them to celebrate the bountiful harvests of 2023.

Employees from the Department of Agrarian Reform XII (DAR XII) visit the ARDEC booth and avail of free samples of Hi-Q VAM 1.

Featured technologies in the ARDEC exhibit include contour farming using lemongrass as vegetative strips for soil erosion control; macro-propagation of forest tree species; bamboo propagation; and Hi-Q VAM 1.

Aside from showcasing ENR technologies through posters, ARDEC also distributed to the technology booth exhibit visitors brochures of the featured technologies, quality planting materials of indigenous forest tree species, and Hi-Q VAM 1.

A visitor from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) of Cotabato Province proposes to ARDEC’s Training Specialist, Ms. Estrella P. Rafil, the idea of sharing the featured ENR technologies to Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center of the province for the farmers’ consumption.

Various individuals including farmers, local government unit employees, private individuals, and students visited the ARDEC’s booth and inquired about the featured technologies during the exhibit’s duration.

For years now, the ARDEC’s yearly participation  in the exhibit during the celebration of Kalivungan   resulted in an  increase in the number of clients who visited the ARDEC Station 1 in Amas, Kidapawan City  who are requesting for technical assistance and planting materials. Jethrone M. Setenta, ARDEC

Published:

  • dateSeptember 4, 2023
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