Started on August 12last year, the project is so far generating important insight in accomplishing the seemingly impossible feat of turning an arid, lateritic land into a verdant landscape fit for agriculture.

A portion of the 5-hectare experimental area is also starting to provide a steady source of vegetable supply for the company’s kitchen.

Planted on a 600 square-meter patch, the vegetable demo farm blooms with luscious edible plants such as bottle gourd, bitter gourd, sweet pepper, string beans, squash, watermelon and tomato.

It is important to note that these crops were only planted on October 4last year, but are now providing food on the table both for stay-in employees and local workers.

These crops are planted alongside fruit trees using Good Agricultural Practices or the GAP system, which uses a potent mix of delivering nutrients to the plants. This agricultural method is being employed in preparation for the long-term goal of developing rehabilitated areas into an organic farm.

The planted fruit trees also did not disappoint, showing promising response to foliar organic fertilizer and chicken manure application on the soil. For instance, this high adaptability is seen in the flowering of grafted mango plants in the early vegetative stage.

The experiment has so far showed that with good maintenance and handling techniques, as well as proper supplementation of organic nutrients, CMC’s agroforestry plantation holds a great promise for sustainability.

It further affirmed that rehabilitated areas can be productive with proper soil amendments, which vastly improved soil quality and fertility.

This fits well with the end-goal of the project, which is to help future recipients develop the land agriculturally so that they may derive economic benefits and other opportunities that would last to generations.