The Pangasinan Star ONLINE

ACTIVE participation of the community has brought very positive results to the school/community nursery program of City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim that seeks to improve food security in the barangays..

Most barangay councils and parent-teacher community associations (PTCA) in the four school districts of Dagupan have pooled their efforts for the construction of fish tanks for aquaculture development.

These include the Don Federico Elementary School and the Pogo-Lasip Elementary School.

Fish tanks substituted for the absence of fishponds in these schools while the East Central Elementary School PTCA simply helped improve a fishpond dike.

“The school/community nursery serves as a show window of the city government’s service delivery and assistance to the community,” City Agriculture Officer Emma Molina said.

The National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center of the local Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in coordination with the barangay council donated the aquaculture products raised in the school nursery like bangus, hito and tilapia.

According to Agricultural Technologist and Project Coordinator Alberto de Vera, Jr., the program which serves as a technical support to the aquaculture, livestock, poultry and crop production of Dagupan, is also profitable even on a small-scale basis.

Bangus was recently harvested in the nursery of the Lucao Elementary School led by Barangay Captain Marcelino Fernandez and School Principal Marilou Llamas.

The bangus was sold to the community and the income augmented the school fund.

Fernandez expressed support to the program which he believes should be sustained because it forms part of the 10-point agenda of the Lim administration while Llamas stressed the nursery generates additional fund for the school and highlights the transfer of technology to students.

Apart from aquaculture, agriculture, poultry and livestock are raised in the school/community nursery of the nine pilot schools and the rest of public elementary schools.

Most of the teachers from the schools finance the procurement of poultry and livestock while the City Agriculture Office donates vegetable and fruit seeds.

The products are also sold to the community to generate additional school fund.

De Vera also commended the initiative of the schools in converting vacant school areas to form part of the nursery.

These areas used to be grassy and were possible breeding grounds of mosquitoes but were cleared and tapped for planting vegetables and fruits.

Pilot schools that have successfully launched the nursery are the West Central Elementary School I and Lucao Elementary School in District I; East Central Elementary School and the Pogo-Lasip Elementary School in District II; Bonuan Boquig Elementary School; Federico N. Ceralde Elementary School and the Leon-Francisco Maramba Elementary School in District III; and the Carael Elementary School and Juan P. Guadiz Elementary School in District IV. – (Sheila H. Aquino)