THE Department of Agriculture (DA) announced that 37 farmers completed the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) program hands-on training on vegetable production in Zamboanga del Norte.

DA Regional Executive Director Rad Donn Cedeño said the one-day hands-on training was held on Friday, December 4, in Don Jose Aguirre village, Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte.

Cedeño said the second batch of trainees are from three farmer organizations, who chanced themselves to enhance their vegetable growing practices such as the use of vegetable seedling trays, plastic mulch, and application of appropriate pest and disease measures, and the proper management on vegetable production and suitability.

He said that assorted vegetable seeds, fertilizers and garden tools were provided to the participants at the end of the one-day training to boost the initial vegetable production operations in their respective village.

He said the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Government has also committed to assist the farmers in marketing their vegetable produce through their Enhanced Gasang Bahandianon sa Umahan (eGBU) Program.

He said the program allows local farmers to sell their agricultural harvests every week at a designated area near the Provincial Agriculture Office grounds at EcoPark in Turno village, Dipolog City, the capital of Zamboanga del Norte.

The DA regional office and the Provincial Government continue to encourage not only farmers but also every household to establish vegetable gardens to support the supply of nutritious food for a healthy community amid the health pandemic. (SunStar Zamboanga)