Two community farming projects were started in the village of Tranca about 4 months ago. One was to teach agricultural methods in an elementary school, and the other was the setting up of a communal farm in the Blu-Paong area.
The students at the Tranca Elementary School were taught vermicomposting (how to use earthworms to make compost) as well as how to plant vegetables. The Schools Division Superintendent was glad to see the profusion of vegetables at the school, which was named Best Implementer of Vegetable Gardening in the whole municipality of Bay, Laguna. The second round of planting has already been completed. The focus was on hydroponics because that that was the most successful project.
To learn more about agriculture the principal and the agriculture teacher of Tranca Elementary School visited the Goducate Model Farm last week. They hope to bring the students there some time.
At Blu-paong, a communal farm was set up in October, 2012, in the backyard of a lady whose child was attending a Goducate literacy center. The farm is worked by some of the women in the area. They are still trying to work out what grows best in the kind of soil they have there. Their trial with tomatoes and papayas were not a great success. The yield was sufficient only for personal consumption. The “pechay” grew well, as did the lettuce. There was sufficient lettuce for use in the feeding program at the Goducate literacy center in Lalao as well as for sale in the neighborhood. This season the women will be assessing whether bittergourds grow well in their soil.
Vegetables grown at Tranca elementary school
