Environment

DepEd Participates
To Mitigate Global Climate Change

By ATBaylon

Mrs. Lucy D. Gomez, school district supervisor, DepEd is leading her faculty and staff to mitigate global climate change by their never ending War on Waste (WOW) and School Inside a Garden (SIGA). They keep school children aware of their role in taking care of the environment to save the dwindling biodiversity and to prevent destruction of natural ecosystem.
As part of DepEd’s WOW, Teacher II Eriberto T. Castillo, district elementary agriculture coordinator, extends his services to reach the uninformed rice farmers through civic-minded/opinion leaders to practice environment-friendly technologies. Desert-turning plains of lowland rice farmers due to continuous usage of chemical inputs are recommended to crop rotate/green manure with legumes. This will enrich the soil with organic matters/conserve soil fertility due to free nitrogen fixing bacteria from the air. Farmers will save their money from buying costly artificial inputs that degrade environment. Castillo promotes versatile mungo as green manure/rotation crop for rice farms.
Castillo advises the farmers to “burn nothing from the farm except at the stove. Decompose biodegradable materials like cut/mowed grasses and leaves as organic fertilizer full of beneficial organism that manufacture plant nutrients for food production projects in homes and community. These biodegradable materials must be decomposed to save its organic matter content.” DepEd Makato district allowed some junior and senior students of Calimbajan-Tina National High School under the guidance of their instructor, Mr. Vilmen I. Villanueva to participate in mass tree planting of the Green Philippines Program Trees for Life: to plant parts of the 20 million seedlings. They joined planting the activities with LGU-Makato officials and employees, Brgy. council officials and members, SK officers with some members, Brgy. Tanods and some civic/religious organizations of barangays Dumga, Agbalogo, Calimbajan, Castillo and Tina. Under the supervision of DENR together with Philippine Endemic Species and Conservation Project & Aklan State University, CTNHC students planted 2,143 seedlings of Molave and Ughayan at Agpalale/Balinsasayaw watershed forest reserve in brgy. Castillo, Makato, Aklan last September. /MP