BARLIG, Mountain Province – In a bid to boost the number of good agricultural practices certified practitioners for fruit-bearing trees in the region, personnel from the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office Cordillera (DA-RFO CAR) conducted a Training on GAP for the citrus and lemon growers of Barlig, Mountain Province on November 30-December 1, 2023.
“Next year, 30 or more lemon and citrus growers will apply for the Good Agricultural Practices in the municipality of Barlig,” Barlig municipal agriculturist Ceferino Oryan assured during the training. “The process of GAP registration involves a series of inspections and monitoring but we must commit to it, so for the first quarter next year, we will request another training,” he added.
OIC-Regional Technical Director for Research and Regulations Dr. Arlene Sagayo also challenged the Barlig lemon and citrus growers. “If there is an initiative from the farmers, the Department of Agriculture is willing to help. We will look forward to your application and hopefully, the region will be boosting a GA-labelled citrus and lemon coming from your municipality,” she said during her speech.
Ruben Dulagan, Chief of the Regulatory Division also mentioned the importance of farmer’s commitment to the training because the safety and appearance of the produce is what attracts the customers. “In the Philippines as a whole, Cordillera region currently holds the record for most GAP-registered farmers at 43%, and it would be even greater if the Barlig citrus and lemon growers will be added to that,” he emphasized.
In line with that, the Regional GAP focal person Doweno Santiago said that next year, his target will be to help 200 or more farmers in the region become GAP certified. He also assured that all interested farmers to be GAP-certified will be assisted by the agency and concerned local governments until they are finally certified.
The participants of the training are assertive that since there are more than 100 citrus and lemon growers in Barlig, they will encourage the other farmers to join the succeeding series of training on GAP next year. By Tan Dulag