SAGADA, Mountain Province – The D’JAMBLAZE organic farm in this famous tourist town in the Cordillera is offering free tasting and picking of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and research on organic farming.
For a minimal entrance fee, visitors are entitled to a tour of the farm and a free taste of fruits grown in the fields.
The farm also provides guests the experience of picking fruits, herbs, and vegetables grown in greenhouses with minimum farm gate prices.
The orchard, owned and managed by Eugene Bacagan of Sagada, has an area of about 1,800 square meters and is located at Sitio Capinitan.
Bacagan in 1998 started planting various varieties of oranges, backyard fruits, sugar cane, vegetables and herbs used for garnishing foods. He domesticated wild raspberries, locally called pinit, and guavas.
Bacagan said the bananas he initially planted produced good fruits but these were totally damaged due an unidentified virus.
He also tried raising range chickens but he stopped due to the bird flu virus that wiped out several poultry farms nationwide.
He produces the organic fertilizers for his farm. He grows sugar cane, which he mixes with compost, instead of buying and using molasses.
Bacagan is a member of the Bina-od Organic Farmers Association, which he conceptualized and organized with four members. It was formally organized in 2011 with 42 members who raise organic fruits and vegetables in Sagada.
Bacagan said bina-od is very important in the life of the i-Sagada. It is prepared, cooked, and served during one of the agricultural activities such as extraction of decomposed pigsty to fertilize the rice fields, when installing house roofs, and other rituals.
He said organic products promote good health, as traditional fertilizers used improve soil texture.
He added that organic farming is one of the activities that contribute in mitigating the impacts of climate change. – Francis B. Degay
April 27, 2024
