Northern Samar's 'Little Baguio' eyes high-value crops
TACLOBAN CITY – To boost economic growth, the local government of Silvino Lubos, Northern Samar expressed desire to cultivate high-value crops such as strawberries, lettuce, and grapes.
"We are thrilled to share groundbreaking news with the public! The governor's plan to cultivate strawberries, mushrooms, grapes, and lettuce in Silvino Lubos holds immense potential to elevate our municipality's agricultural and tourism sectors," Mayor Leo Jarito said.
He added that with ideal climate and conditions, they anticipate a remarkable transformation that will boost their local economy.
Recently, provincial government officials in Northern Samar visited a strawberry farm in Bukidnon for benchmarking.
Silvino Lubos, also called the “Little Baguio” of Northern Samar, is considered suitable for growing strawberries and lettuce for its cool temperature and relative humidity.
It is a fourth-class municipality that used to be the poorest town in the country in 2015 with a poverty incidence of 78.5 percent according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Its poverty rate decreased to 56.9 in 2018 and is expected to go down with the recent completion of the bridges and road network projects leading to the landlocked municipality.