SABLAN, Benguet – The municipal government is aggressively working on the sustained development of the town’s 10-hectare agriculture demonstration farm to provide added attractions in the municipality amidst the limited funds being utilized for the said purpose.
Mayor Alfredo Dacumos, Jr. said that some eight hectares have already been planted with assorted fruit bearing trees and agricultural crops that will be showcased once the area shall have been fully planted.
Further, he added that the road leading to the demo farm is also being concreted by the public works department considering that the road is classified as a national road to ensure that people who will be visiting the farm can conveniently travel to the area.
The municipal chief executive claimed that another important component of the demo farm being readied by the local government is the nursery to ensure the sustained production of seedlings to be distributed and sold to interested residents wanting to propagate assorted fruit bearing trees in their respective properties to bolster the town’s identity as the fruit basket of Benguet.
Sablan’s temperate weather is conducive for the production of assorted fruits like rambutan, lanzones, marang, durian, among others, aside from pineapple and banana which the town has long produced, these were ravaged by viruses that affected thousands of farmers in the municipality.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed that the ongoing improvement of our demo farm will be completed the soonest amidst the limited resources being used. We want to showcase our demo farm as one of the major sources of planting materials of fruits and agricultural crops apart from serving as an attraction in the municipality,” Mayor Dacumos stressed.
According to him, residents are encouraged to plant assorted tree species within their properties to help in providing adequate supply of fruits that will also serve as one of the sources of income for their families considering that agriculture is the major economic activity in the municipality.
He said that concerned agriculture industry stakeholders were able to prove that Sablan has an abundant supply of fruits during the recently concluded 10th edition of the town’s fruit festival and that locally produced fruits are at par with those being produced by other provinces not only in Luzon but also in Visayas and Mindanao.
The mayor added that the municipal government will continue to explore all other avenues by which various forms of assistance will be extended to the farmers for them to improve their productivity and contribute in stabilizing the supply of agricultural crops being sold inside and outside the municipality.
He also rallied individuals wanting to make Sablan their home to plant fruit-bearing trees within their properties to help in advancing the town’s identity as the fruit basket of the province and contribute in the municipal government’s overall efforts to improve the current state of the environment to combat the negative impact of climate change.
Sablan is one of the towns comprising the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) growth center and was identified as a major producer of agricultural crops for the Metro Baguio community. By Dexter A. See
