The Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office No. 02 Climate Change-Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (CC-AMIA) Office spearheaded the skills development on asexual citrus propagation and orchard management for AMIA villagers of Nararagan, Ballesteros, Cagayan on October 5-8, 2021 in four (4) batches.
Experts from Department of Agriculture-Northern Cagayan Experiment Station, namely, Dr. Marilou B. Agaid, Manager of the said station, and Mr. Jefrrey Talosig, Farm Supervisor, shared their expertise on how to propagate plant materials and properly manage and maintain citrus production areas among the four (4) batches of citrus growers of the village, composed of youth and senior citizens, as well as the officials and members of the Nararagan United Farmers and Association (NUFA) and the owners of private farm schools in nearby municipalities.
“Itatta nga panawen ket awan iti pilpilyen ti panagserrek ti agrikultura. Kinaagpaysuan na ket adu iti offer ti DA para kadagiti [agtutubo] tapnu maikkanda ti gundaway nga sumrek ti agrikultura,” said Dr. Agaid in her Welcome Message.
“Nu interesado kayo, mapan kayu laeng ti Department of Agriculture idiay Tuguegarao wennu Municipal Agriculture Office tapnu makaavail kayo iti credit wennu pagpuunan. Influence others even your course is not agriculture,” she added.
On one hand, Ms. Kay S. Olivas, CC-AMIA Project Leader, discussed the Climate Resilient Agriculture technologies and practices in Cagayan Valley and in other regions to encourage the villagers to adopt appropriate climate resilient technology in lieu of their present practices or production systems.
Aside from being the “Rice Granary of Ballesteros” for having a vast rice field, Nararagan is also known as the top producer of mandarin in the said municipality. As of now, the major variety of mandarin in the village is Szincom, which is sourced from a private nursery owner in Batangas costing 75 pesos per plant. With the said training, the participants are now expected to produce their own planting materials and to eventually make it as an enterprise.
## Story from Rodel Nacomel
