Photos show portions of the ‘Faith Garden’ started by MMDC agriculturist Annejin Buisa at the rehabilitated portion of the Pili mined-out area.
Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC) intensified the integration of agroforestry into its environmental programs.
Going beyond conventional mine rehabilitation, MMDC agriculturist Engr. Annejin Buisa maintains a “Faith Garden” in one of the rehabilitated areas in Sitio Pili, Brgy. Panikian.
Engr. Buisa started her “Faith Garden” on September 2018. Since then, it has grown into a mini-plantation bursting with all kinds of nutritious greens like malabar spinach, eggplant, corn, okra, cucumber, squash, and bottle gourd. It even has fruit species like lemon and grapes!
FAITH stands for “Food Always In The Home,” according to MMDC environmental manager by Engr. Angel Cao. Engr. Buisa added that FAITH also reflects MMDC’s effort to show that mined-out lands, if rehabilitated properly, can ensure food security for the community.
As a demonstration garden, Engr. Buisa says the vegetable plots aim to provide an educational platform for community stakeholders of the company’s comprehensive rehabilitation program and the possibilities that can be derived out of the mined-out areas.
“We want to show the potentials of a properly rehabilitated mined-out area to our community; that we are not merely returning the land to its former state, but we are making it productive for them to benefit later and even beyond the end of the mine life,” Engr. Buisa says.
The garden has yielded bountiful harvests, part of which were shared with the company’s commissary and some were given to personnel for their own consumption
MMDC’s rehabilitated areas are enriched by vermi-composts and biochar, a 2,000 year-old practice that converts agricultural waste to enhance soil quality and biodiversity.
As a long-term plan, MMDC has already set aside areas for rubber, coffee, cacao plantations, and even African palm oil plantations on rehabilitated mined-out areas.