CABARROGUIS, Quirino—Hillside farmers in this gateway town to a gold-copper project operated by OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGPI) at the mining village of Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, are now into large-scale vegetable farming. What used to be idle contours have been converted into productive vegetable gardens planted with organically grown vegetables.
With rolling terrain, the contour-farming villages of Tucod and Dingasan are also known for growing bananas, cassava, citrus and corn in enormous volume.
Many see the substantial daily food requirement of the OGPI Didipio operations a good prospect that has encouraged many local farmers to shift to organic-vegetable production from traditional rice farming.
Farmer Cornelio Sebastian, who cultivates plots of cabbages in Barangay Tucod, claims that the favorable semitemperate climate, paved-road network provided by the mining company and a potential market for his crops would always be available right in his backyard.
“With all of these favors, farmers like us can grow ‘edible gold’ in our farm yards,” Sebastian said.
With thousands of mining employees fed from breakfast to dinner, the Australian mining firm has reaffirmed support to the production of high-value crops in the nearby villages.
To ensure food self-sufficiency in the mining village, the company 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 and neighboring villages,” OGPI Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Chito Gozar said.
As 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 backyards.
The scheme is seen not only to ensure residents of a continuous supply of homegrown crops, but also meet the vegetable and fruit requirements of mining workers, especially now that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has granted the renewal of OGPI’s Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement exploration permit that allows the mining firm to expand its exploration program over the broader region around Didipio.
“It is exactly for this reason that we initiate hands-on seminars among our local farmers to educate them further on proper production and postharvest handling of high-value crops grown in many areas of the town, a hand-reach away to our dining tables,” Gozar said.
Aside from the farm-to-market roads constructed by the mining firm in surrounding villages, Gozar said the upland farmers now find it more convenient to transport their harvest because of the all-weather main road which is not only designed to deliver mineral concentrates, but also serves as a major access road for agricultural products produced by the nearby villages.