The provincial government of Albay conducted alternative and traditional healthcare training using herbs and spices for the first batch of 25 senior citizens.

Rose Belodo, officer-in-charge of Albay Provincial Agriculture Office (APAO), said the participants are being taught to plant herbs and spices and process them to become basic traditional and alternative medicines in their respective homes.

“We want them not just to identify different herbs and spices, we also want them to learn to explain the health benefits of culinary herbs and spices, recognize planting strategies of various herbs, and to process the said herbs and spices,” Belodo said in a media interview on Wednesday.

She said more training will be held through the Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Training Institute (DA-ATI) to provide livelihood opportunities to residents, particularly to elderlies.

“They will also learn the proper way of storage, marketing, and preservation of processed herbs and spices. They will bring home basic starter kits for processing herbs and spices,” she said. (PNA)