Through the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation’s (RTNMC) program giving back to communities, farmers in Bataraza, Palawan learned new ways to increase their crop productivity and profit.
Under the Social Development Management Program (SDMP) of RTNMC, farmers in five villages, which only practice subsistence farming before, were introduced to market-oriented farming.
Farmers from Barangays Iwahig, Ocayan, Sandoval, Sarong, and Sumbiling are covered by the program which gave one hectare per farm dedicated to vegetable farming.
These lands are now used in planting bell peppers, chili peppers, eggplants, bitter gourd, string beans and tomatoes, all of which are supplied to SM City Puerto Princesa.
Bell peppers are the biggest produce of the farms and through concessionaire, these main commodities for gourmet cuisines are being supplied not just to SM Hypermarket in Puerto Princesa City but also to other local markets and restaurants around Palawan.
Meanwhile, RTNMC did not only conduct market-oriented farming trainings for farmers. The mining firm also extended help in supporting the farmers in marketing their produce.
RTNMC community relations manager Reynaldo Dela Rosa said in an article by Palawan News that since the program was started in 2014, a big adjustment was done by their company as community mindset is not easy to change.
Farmers adapting to these new strategies will take time. Dela Rosa explained how letting go of the farmers to interact with suppliers on their own is hard to do especially with the concern that they will be taken advantage of due to their tendencies to avoid business discussions.
“Maliban sa pagtatanim ng mga high-valued crops, we will be engaging on flower farming; tapos pwede rin mag-establish ng palaisdaan. Then if may mga over supplied na products, pwede natin siya i-undergo ng processing. The goal is to promote farm tourism and at the same time iyong tinatawag na market-oriented farming,” Dela Rosa also said.
[Aside from planting high-valued crops, we will be engaging on flower farming; then, fish ponds can also be established. Then if there are over supplied products, those can undergo processing. The goal is to promote farm tourism and what they call market-oriented farming at the same time.]
