TACLOBAN CITY-The regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has encouraged coconut farmers to practice intercropping to help them recover somehow the losses they sustained due to the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda.
Coconut farmers in the region bore the brunt when Yolanda hit the region eight months ago.
It takes close to 10 years before coconut trees to fully recover and be productive again.
Thus, to help coconut farmers earn income and go back to farming, the government provided alternative livelihood solution such as intercropping.
Presently, the Philippine Coconut Authority is providing “pinakbet” seeds composed of squash, ampalaya and eggplant with free complete fertilizer to fully utilize the land and increase the crop production.
After three months time, farmers can already harvest their vegetable crops, thus helping them to produce their own food and augment their income.
“In the region, 600 hectares were already planted for alternative crops,” said by Bernadette San Juan, DA regional executive director.
“We were able to distribute 400 kilos of vegetable seeds and3, 000 kilos of corn seeds in the region,” she added. (ANNIE ORLENE B. TISMO, LNU Intern)
