Feature: Vegetable Garden floats in Agusan Marsh

Leave no one behind.

This is the motivating factor of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga to extend its services even to the hard-to-reach areas making agriculture interventions accessible to the people.

On October 13, 2022, a plant nursery for a floating garden was successfully installed in a wetland area in Barangay Sabang Gibong, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, an area commonly known as Agusan Marsh. The intervention was made after the evaluation of the said area was identified as a possible site for vegetable production that could give additional livelihood for the marshland community. Materials for the garden were given to the Indigenous People (IP) including net, bamboo, ropes, seeds, seedling trays, plastic mulch, and sprinklers by the joint support of the DARegional Agricultural Engineering Division

(RAED), High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP), Organic Agriculture (OA), Agusan del Sur Provincial Local Government Unit (PLGU), and Talacogon Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO). DA-Caraga technical experts conducted an orientation for the residents to introduce innovations in crops and livestock production in the area and train them on how to make a floating garden. The DA-Caraga allocated P175,000 pesos for the 50 units of the floating garden to be established in the area using different methods of floaters.

Initially, 10 units were already planted with bell pepper and pechay.

The DA team will revisit for more assistance and guidance to the farmers until the completion of the project; from planting, harvesting, and to marketing.

The agency will ensure a sustainable livelihood for them despite the challenge of climate change since they have been experiencing floods for months, with no permanent agricultural land suitable for cultivation.

This intervention is also part of the agency’s contribution to the conservation efforts of the area’s biodiversity. Agusan Marsh is one of the most ecologically significant wetlands in the Philippines, a protected area in Agusan del Sur declared during the time of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

Within its lakes, several floating communities can be found. During the wet season, it is a large single swamp while in dry season, it turns into a series of interconnected rivers and isolated swamps and lakes with the Agusan River flowing through the center. (Lovely Joy L. Saludez/ DA-Caraga)