EASTERN SAMAR, April 29, 2022 – Farmers from Can-avid, Eastern Samar, a remote and identified End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) area were granted the Ginger Production Project from the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program to aid farmers’ livelihood.

The Boco Farmers Association from Barangay Boco, Can-avid, Eastern Samar is a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) registered association since March 2019. With the local government unit’s (LGU) initiative to provide opportunities to the marginalized communities especially those that are confined by community unrest, the FA was introduced to the DA-SAAD with the recommendation of the Office of Municipal Agriculture Services (OMAS) headed by Dr. Rogelio Robedizo Jr. DA-SAAD Region 8 conducted an assessment in March 2021 to which the FA qualified to be a beneficiary of the FY 2021 Ginger Production and Marketing Project.

The members’ main sources of livelihood come from planting coconut/copra, vegetable and root crops, and upland rice farming. Barangay Boco is a 3-hour motorboat ride from Can-avid town proper. As a counterpart of the association, they identified and established a communal area where all the operations of the association took place.

Table 1. FY 2021 Ginger Production and Marketing Interventions received by the FA

SAAD Program also provided several training on Leadership, Values Formation, Financial Literacy, and Entrepreneurial skills, as well as technical training on Ginger Production and Marketing in July 2021 facilitated by SAAD Region 8 and Eastern Samar Provincial Agricultural Services, to develop the FA’s skills required in ginger farming and managing an enterprise.

During the first quarter of 2022, the FA already earned from the first cropping season of the ginger project. Around 1,294 kilograms (kg) of ginger were harvested from the 1 hectare cultivation. Of this, 919.5 kg were sold at Php 50/kg in the adjacent communities and local market of Can-avid, having a gross income of Php 45,957, while 300 kg were kept to use as planting materials for the next cropping.

Table 2. Boco Farmers Association’s Production Data

Plans

After Typhoon Agaton, the FA’s land preparation was halted temporarily and they are waiting for the dry season for the next cropping. They also plan to process the ginger into salabat products for higher income. Boco Farmers Association president, Mr. Ruben Obingayan shares “Damu na salamat han mga ahensya nga nagbulig ha amon, pag tutdo kun paano igtanom hint ama an mga luy’a. Asya na ine ine iton katikangan hiton pag asenso ngan kunta magpadayon pa ine ngan mas dumapo pa an amon proyekto.”

(Thanks to all the government agencies who helped us, and taught us how to properly plant ginger. This is the start of our success and we hope for this to prosper; and we also hope to expand our project.)

The FA members extended their gratitude to the SAAD Program and to the implementers of the project and are hopeful for more interventions from the government in the coming years.###

Writer: Evan Jess M. Villanueva, PC-Eastern Samar