Large, wide plains generally characterize the topography of the City of Sto. Tomas in Batangas province. Mountainous terrain only becomes apparent on the northeast side of the city, encompassing a portion of Mt. Makiling.
The city maintains a robust agricultural sector, despite long years of urbanization. It produces crops and poultry, with 902 hectares of irrigated land used to grow rice. The rest of the land is planted to crops like corn, legumes, and vegetables.
In recent years, Sto. Tomas has become known for being a city with residential and commercial developments. Climate change, however, has turned its many farmers into a vulnerable economic group.
As Tomasinos in the agriculture sector struggled to save their crops from the ravaging effects of the El Niño phenomenon, City of Sto. Tomas Mayor Arth Jhun Aguilar Marasigan urged: “Let us strengthen our agricultural sector with programs that support our farmers and cooperatives. Let us help our farmers to raise their yield and profit.”
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
The city government promptly partnered with national government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Office of the President (OP) to address the needs of its farming sector.
As a result, the city government facilitated the release of financial support to some 600 farmers, through the DSWD’s P5.7 million Project Lawa at Binhi.
Under the project, farmer beneficiaries cleaned rivers in five barangays to help ease the flow of water in farmland areas, and to prepare the land for the planting of corn. Over a 20-day work schedule, each farmer earned a daily wage of P9,400 and five kilos of rice.
The Office of the President (OP) awarded the city with agricultural assistance that benefited 200 farmers from the city’s 30 barangays.
The City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas is one of only five Local Government Units (LGUs) in Batangas province to be granted OP assistance amounting to P1.2 million, allowing some 200 farmers to clean and cultivate their lands.
FARMER COOPERATIVES
The city government fast-tracked the formation of farmers’ cooperatives. In 2022, the City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas had 16 farmer cooperatives. By 2024, the number of cooperatives have increased to 22, providing jobs to some 125 Tomasinos.
One of the newest accredited cooperatives is the Kawaning Tomasino Credit Cooperative, composed of employees and personnel of the city government of Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
Owned and controlled by their members, credit cooperatives are mostly community-based, allowing members to borrow at low interest rates from the amount of money collectively saved by the credit cooperative.
URBAN FARMING
Last year, the City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas was included in the national government’s National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program (NUPAP).
The NUPAP seeks to promote farming in urbanized environments and other areas close to cities by using specialized planting methods. It distributes to farmers and farmers organizations interventions in the form of seeds, fertilizers, and farm tools.
Mayor AJAM said that among those who received over P1 million worth of interventions were the Santo Tomas Farmers Federation, five organizations benefiting from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), six communal garden sites, and the Santa Teresita Farmers Association.
He added that the DA supplied a greenhouse to the Catholic Church-run Ka Pio Farm, and installed a solar-powered irrigation system there. A total of P1.1 million in government funds have been invested in the development of the farm.
Parish priest and rector Oscar Andal said the church leadership is glad to establish the Ka Pio Farm on church property to promote unity between the government and the church while also contributing to food security.
ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
The DA, in collaboration with the city government of Santo Tomas, also conducted a Farmers’ Field School (FFS) to teach farmer leaders new techniques for boosting the production of vegetables and properly managing various plant pests.
Basically, the FFS involved 16 training sessions on organic farming. This particular farming method taught farmers how to grow crops that had higher resistance to pests and were environment-friendly, since the crops did not rely on commercial fertilizers and pesticides.
Some 51 farmers graduated from the FFS, which included a benchmarking activity that focused on the participants’ best practices in organic farming.
Next to the FFS, over 50 barangay officials were likewise trained in organic vegetable production. The training was conducted by the Institute of Plant Breeding in partnership with the City Agriculture Office (CAGO) of Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
KADIWA NI AJAM
The City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas is the first LGU in Batangas province to launch the Kadiwa store initiated by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Once a month, the Kadiwa ni AJAM centralizes and then sells directly to consumers the rice, corn, fruits, and vegetables raised by farmers and farmer cooperatives. All sold at low prices because of the absence of middlemen or traders, other locally-produced farmer products are likewise placed for sale.
VETERINARY SERVICES
The City Veterinary Office (CVO) is open every 1st Saturday of the month, providing veterinary services to farm animals in the form of vaccination and castration.
Farmers and farmer cooperatives actively consult with the CVO to safeguard the health and productivity of their livestock.
FUTURE PLANS
Scheduled for implementation is the provision of funds that will allow local entrepreneurs to rent stalls in shopping malls like SM. The fund will give these small entrepreneurs the opportunity to promote and sell their products using mainstream venues.
