Baguio City- Farmer-beneficiaries of San Andreas Strawberry Growers Association (SASG) are now equipped to cultivate healthier strawberries with the provision of P2 million tissue culture strawberry package and greenhouses to boost production and generate more income among locals amidst the pandemic.
The Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) under the High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) provided said farmers 5,000 propagated seedlings of tissue culture strawberries in bottles which were transferred to the four twin-tunnel greenhouses.
The SASG of Bilis, Santo Tomas Central, Baguio City is composed of 23 members of which three were qualified to acquire the greenhouse and tissue culture strawberry package.
According to SASG president Samy Lang-ay, the 5000 seedlings of tissue culture strawberries, which were propagated in 500 bottles, were picked from the bottles to the garden beds of the greenhouse.
Lang-ay expressed his gratitude to DA-RFO-CAR for providing the trainings, the greenhouse, and tissue cultured strawberries.
He said that the tissue culture will make the strawberries healthier, clean from blights, not easily infested with pests like mites, thus the farmers will be expecting more produce and income.
SASG member and a recipient of the program, Rosa Masing, said that the greenhouses and the tissue culture strawberries gave them the assurance that they can still produce quality and quantity of strawberries in any season.
Lang-ay and Masing disclosed that no farmers should be left behind, so a portion of the profit will be allotted for their association’s fund and some of the planting materials will also be distributed to their co-members and to other nearby farmers so that they too could produce quality strawberries.
Meanwhile, 1,600 bottles consisting of 16,000 seedlings for the second batch of tissue culture strawberries from the partner agency lab Benguet State University (BSU) will also be distributed to the recipients.
According to DA-CAR Press Release No. 21-136, the farmers expect to harvest their first produce in December this year.
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