Layout of Souvenir Program.pmd - galing pook

farmers to try the program. Throughthis scheme, farmers could avail of20 kilos of munggo seeds and onlypay for it after the harvest.Four years after the municipalgovernment encouraged its farmersto make use of their idle time forplanting munggo, the town now hasmore than 7,000 hectares ofmunggo farms during the dryseason. A production of 800 to1,000 kilos of munggo per hectareat the prevailing price of PhP32.00per kilo translated into incomesranging from PhP25,600 toPhP32,000 per hectare. This meantPhP224 million in additional incomeduring the summer for San Mateo’sfarmers who take their time off fromplanting rice. Munggo production notonly restored soil fertility in the ricefarms, it also greatly enhanced theincome of most of the families as 90percent of San Mateo’s populationwas dependent on agriculture as themain source of livelihood.And there wereother benefitsgained fromplanting munggo.After harvest time,the munggo farmswere used asforage for farmanimals, andprovided respite tothe farmers who nolonger needed totake the animals togreener pastures.With munggo ontheir tables, most of the families nowhad a protein-rich diet. Moreover,the threshed pods could be turnedinto compost or organic fertilizerwhich translated into lesser farmexpenditures. And, the burnt hull ofthe munggo could be used as theseed bed for mushroom production,which also has a large incomepotential. Lastly, womenorganizations profited from munggoproduction by processing it intovarious food delicacies like butchi,moriecos, munggo bread,guinataang munggo and lumpianggulay.Eventually, San Mateo begancelebrating a Munggo Field Day.The event included site visits ofmunggo demonstration farms,seminars and a Farmers’ Forum onthe various aspects of munggoproduction and marketing.The success of the program gainedthe support of the ProvincialGovernment, the District HouseRepresentative and the Departmentof Agriculture. The DTI and DOSTprovided processing and marketingstrategies in the promotion of theprogram, and the LGU also beganparticipating in the One Town, OneProduct program.The many benefits derived by themunicipality from munggoproduction have prompted SanMateo to refer to the plant as its“black gold.” This is becausemunggo plants are ready forharvest when the pods turn blackand its leaves defoliate.Other municipalities in Isabela likeCabatuan, Roxas, San Manuel, andAurora are now emulating thisprogram. The Municipal Mayor ofSan Mateo was even invited to theProvincial Capitol to share SanMateo’s expertise in mungbeanproduction. They all hope that, oneday, they would also be able toreap their very own black gold.Munggo productiongreatly enhanced theincome of the familiesCONTACTMayor Roberto C. AgcaoiliTel. Nos. (078)664-2208; (078)664-2603Email: nonoyagcaoili@yahoo.comGaling Pook 2007 • 23