Two city barangays to get greenhouses for strawberry production

BAGUIO CITY – City veterinary and agriculture office (CVAO) head Dr. Brigit Piok said two greenhouses that will serve as nurseries for strawberry runner production will be built in Country Club Village and South Drive barangays in the coming weeks.

In a regular management committee meeting of local officials, April 13, at the Baguio Convention Center, she said the P300,000 funding for the structures will be provided by a partner of the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, Inc. (JVOFI).

       The greenhouse at Country Club Village barangay will be handled by a women’s organization while that at South Drive by an urban farmer’s  group.  The lots where the structures will be erected are provided by the respective beneficiary barangays, Piok said.      

       “These greenhouses will hopefully become food and income generators for the families of those involved including the concerned barangays,” she said.

       On March 24, a newly-constructed greenhouse for the same purpose was turned-over to a local farmers’ group by the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) on March 24 at Purok 1, Irisan barangay, under its High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP).

       Agriculturist II Marcelina Tabelin of the city veterinary and agriculture office (CVAO) said the structure, with a 245 square meter area, costs P543,244 to build and was fully funded by the DA under its HVCDP.

       The project was granted to the Granjero De Oeste Organization, a group of small-scale farmers in Irisan barangay, that was chosen by the CVAO, she said.

       Criteria used in choosing the organization include the availability of land on where the greenhouse is to be constructed and the stability and proper management of the organization.

       Tabelin said four more greenhouses are targeted to be built under the DA program later this year at Mt. Sto. Tomas Central barangay and turned-over to two farmers groups in the area aimed at bolstering the Summer Capital’s strawberry industry.

       The organizations are expected to propagate the strawberry seedlings or runners that will then be sold at reasonable prices to the public. Earnings will primarily benefit the families of farmers who are members of the group, she said.

       Variety of the strawberry runners to be propagated is called San Andreas that ripens faster and has a longer fruiting season than other varieties, according to Tabelin.-Gaby B. Keith