Meanwhile, the natives of Benguet need not dig the hard rocks to find the treasures. Their ancestors had given them the map where green gold is located. Mining this kind of gold does not require heavy equipment but rather a combination of skill, passion and a technology designed for sustainable agricultural development.

The municipality of Bakun is four hour drive from the province capital town La Trinidad. Passing through the rough and steeply roads is not noticeable because of the refreshing ambience of nature and the picture perfect views of farmers cultivating their vegetable terraces.
Growing vegetables is the primary source of income in Bakun, Benguet. Now at 60, Tokias Wansay of Bagtangan Farmers’ Association is proud that he is able to send his four children in school through his quarter hectare garden.

Majority of the farmers here are planting cabbage, carrot, and potato; some are planting chinese cabbage, cucumber, snap beans, sweet peas, lettuce and broccoli. Their produce are directly delivered to the trading post in La Trinidad.

Being one of the primary sources of vegetable in the country, PHilMech installed a bi-cable agricultural tramline system (ATS) in 2009. Without much second thought, Wansay and the rest of the Bagtangan Farmers Association happily welcomed the technology.

For Wansay the tramline is very useful to them. “Dakkel nga tulong kanya mi daytoy. Makadeliver pay kamin iti duwa nga truck ti gulay kumpara idi nga maysa kada aldaw. (The tramline is a great help to us. Now, we are able to deliver two trucks of vegetables compared before when we were only able to deliver one truck load,” the vegetable farmer shared.

Through the mechanical hauler, farmers can transport 250 kilograms of their produce in five minutes. A diesel engine is serving as the prime mover of the system. It is operated by one person and assisted by four persons to do the loading and unloading of vegetables.

He narrated their situation before the tramline arrived. During the peak harvest season, small volume of harvested vegetables were delivered because of the drudgery in manual hauling. On his part, he would hire 15 persons to carry 50 kilograms of produce from his farm to the nearest road. The haulers will haul four times to fill a truck load. They will consume the whole day for hauling. Farm owners pay 50 cents per kilo to hire haulers.

“Dakkel ti menos mi tatta. Adda iti maigatang mi ti ipot. (We have big savings now. We have additional budget to buy chicken dung,” said Wansay. With the use of ATS Bakun farmers could save at least 50 percent on the hauling cost. To maximize the use of the tramline, they load the chicken dung and other farm inputs to the bucket back to the farm area. Making farm inputs available before the next cultivation period.

Wansay also observed that his fellow gardeners are now more industrious. Some extended their farm areas while the others cleaned and cultivated the arable lands near the service area of the tramline. “Gimmagit da. Nalag-anan kami ti trabahun (They have become more hard-working. Our works are now lessened),” the 60 year-old farmer cheerfully added.

Through the years, PHilMech envisions that more and more Benguet residents will engage in vegetable farming. Now, the agricultural tramline system and vegetable farming will never be separated from them. Little by little the ATS will continue to help the farmers of Bakun lift their green gold. Moreover, the ATS will help in the conserving and preserving Benguet’s natural resources.