A Lecture on Citronella Growing
IGPIT, OPOL — The Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro Premier, in partnership with Barangay Igpit, Municipality of Opol, Misamis Oriental and Atty. Jayfrancis Bago, launched its latest program featuring a lecture on citronella growing and seedlings distribution last Saturday, 10 August 2019. The project was held at the Igpit Barangay Hall and was attended by over 100 local leaders and residents. Citronella is a citrus scented plant that repels mosquitoes. With its anti-mosquito characteristics, the leaves can be processed as citronella oil which has very good potential for sale as essential oils, scent for soaps, massage oil, and other organic products. RC CDO Premier invited Del Monte Philippines, Inc. supervisor Luigi Avan to speak on the benefits of growing citronella, the process for extracting oil and the commercialization of citronella production. Originally, the club intended to provide a means of livelihood to residents in the area through the planting and commercialization. However, due to the inherent characteristics of citronella, Premier’s activity also touched on Disease Prevention and Treatment — another area of focus of Rotary International. This was timely as the Department of Health (DOH) declared a national dengue epidemic only four days earlier on August 6, 2019. RC CDO Premier will continue to address the concern of the dengue outbreak throughout the year by running the program in different barangays in the City of Cagayan de Oro and surrounding municipalities. The Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro Premier, chartered in 2015, is one of the youngest clubs in Rotary International District 3870. Members are young business persons and professionals who meet weekly on Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. at Cucina Higala, Capistrano Street in Cagayan de Oro. For information on the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro Premier or ways to work with Rotary in your community, contact the club at rccdopremier@yahoo.com, or use the contact form on its website, www.rotarycdopremier.org.
