By Leonardo Perante II / Correspondent
KASIBU, Nueva Vizcaya—With thousands of mining employees fed from breakfast to dinner, Australian mining firm OceanaGold Philippines Inc. (Ogpi) has reaffirmed its support to the production of high-value crops in Barangay Didipio, home to its gold-copper project.
Tto ensure food self-sufficiency in the mining village in this mineral-rich upland town, the Australian company operating a large-scale mining project here committed to continue supporting a sustainable vegetable-growing program that would benefit local farmers.
“Like the launching of tissue-cultured bananas in the mining village, the company is keeping its support to the production of high-value crops in the Didipio Valley,” Ogpi Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Chito Gozar said.
Launched a couple of years ago, the mining firm is revitalizing a vegetable garden program to strengthen the productivity and sustainability of high-value nutritious vegetables not only in home backyards but in school campuses as well.
As a part of its continuing efforts to ensure a productive and healthy community, the firm is revitalizing the program to encourage more villagers including teachers and students to plant nutritious vegetables and fruits right in their own backyard. This will not only ensure residents of a continuous supply of homegrown crops but also meet the vegetable and fruit requirements of Ogpi employees now that the mining project is in full swing.
“It is precisely for this reason that we initially conducted a citrus forum among our local farmers to educate them further on proper production and postharvest techniques. Citrus is a nutritious, high-value fruit, which is incidentally grown in many hillside farms in town, a hand-reach away to our dining tables, where we feed 2,000 mining employees three times a day,” Gozar said.
Aside from the farm-to-market roads constructed by the mining firm in surrounding villages, Gozar said farmers in Barangay Didipio now find it more convenient to transport their products because of the all-weather main road opened by the mining firm. The all-weather road is not only used to deliver mineral concentrates but it also serves as a major access road for agricultural products produced from the mining village.
Image credits: LEONARDO PERANTE II