Bansalan farm school marks five decades of training upland farmers in sustainable methods

A 19-hectare demonstration farm in the foothills of Mount Apo continues to train thousands of farmers each year in low-cost, sustainable farming, according to a feature by Edge Davao on the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc.

The center, located in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, about 86 kilometres from Davao City, opened to the public in September 1971. It now receives about 6,000 visitors annually, with nearly a third enrolling in formal training, Edge Davao reported. More than 300,000 people have visited since it was established, including guests from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Oceania.

Tiddy Dalunan, head of the training department, said most trainees are farmers, though the center also trains technicians, teachers, students and participants referred by government agencies. MBRLC has partnered with the departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Environment and Natural Resources, Science and Technology, and Education.

The center is best known for its Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) and related models, which it developed and tests on site for resource-poor farmers who cannot afford machinery or costly inputs. According to Dalunan, about 75 percent of training time is spent on hands-on work, such as using an A-frame to mark contour lines and planting hedgerows to curb soil erosion. Other courses cover livestock, nursery management, aquaculture, vermicomposting, natural fertilizers and youth leadership.

The feature highlights Jonathan "Boy" Gilbuena, who drove a passenger jeepney in Davao del Sur for more than a decade before turning to farming on a 1.5-hectare mountainside plot. His corn yields fell as the sloping soil eroded, and he nearly quit before training at MBRLC. After he applied contour hedgerows, soil conservation and crop diversification, the once-degraded farm now supports various crops and livelihood activities, Edge Davao reported.

MBRLC was founded by American agriculturist and missionary Rev. Harold Ray Watson, who received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1985 and donated the US$20,000 prize to the center. The center also received a presidential citation in 1989 and a Food Day Silver Medal from the regional office of the Food and Agriculture Organization two years later.

"Our aim is to promote projects and systems that would enable rural people to improve their standard of living," said MBRLC director Jethro P. Adang.