Kaumahan 1st Quarter of 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE

Optimizing

Bayanihan Agri-Clusters Farm clustering and consolidation, known as “Bayanihan Agri Clusters” (BAC), involves integrating government interventions— such as providing loans, farm mechanization, free seeds and fertilizers, and market support—to organized farmers/ fisher groups. It aims to empower stakeholders to reduce production costs, benefit from the agriculture value chain, and direct interventions to achieve economies of scale.

for crops requiring mechanization and massive technology use. He stressed that this scheme includes block farming, trust farming, contract farming, and corporative farming, which will make farmers more efficient with technology.

Bayanihan Agri clusters also allow farmers and fishers to forge stronger linkages and improve bargaining and market powers to institutional buyers and consumers. Their consolidated production volume could command high prices and sustain market needs.

Apparent in the actual setting of agricultural communities are the groupings of farmers and fishers into associations and cooperatives.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) intensified the establishment of Bayanihan Agri Clusters (BACs) in the region to attain economies of scale.

Through this program, farmers and fishers could lower their per-unit costs of inputs; increase purchasing power; build a technical, financial, and infrastructural network, and eventually become sustainable in their operations. It is also known as the farms and fishers clustering and consolidation or F2C2 program.

Guided by the various national agencies apart from the Department of Agriculture, these individuals have grouped themselves based on their involvement in the food production within their community. Rice and corn farmers and irrigators, and producers organized themselves into associations. Through this, they could be eligible for government interventions and support.

We all know that lower market price during the peak of harvest season is the usual problem encountered by farmers. By establishing postharvest and storage facilities in the cluster areas, farmers could eventually store their produce while waiting for the favorable price of their commodities.

F2C2 is the first strategy stipulated in the OneDA Reform Agenda to transform Philippine Agriculture into a food-secure and the resilient Philippines with empowered farmers and fisherfolk.

Here, Secretary William D. Dar said that the government must promote and support farm consolidation arrangements to bring about economies of scale, particularly

Another positive result of organizing individual farmers is that they could maximize the utilization of farm equipment and machinery during land preparations up to the postharvest and storage activities. As a group, they could always schedule who would be the first to use hand tractors, granule applicators, dryers, and milling facilities to facilitate easy, fast and orderly farm operations.

They could also easily share the maintenance costs for this equipment and machinery as a cluster association and ensure quality service to its members.

Big brother-Small brother partnership is very feasible through this BAC concept. The cluster association will serve as the big brother wherein they will be the one to buy the products of the member associations and sell them to institutional buyers.

Bayanihan Agri Cluster program will undoubtedly provide opportunities for the benefit of all farmers in the locality. With these individual farmers need not spend on transportation and other incidental expenses in bringing their products to the market instead selling them right to their big brother association, which could also give rebates to their members.

Indeed, there is strength in unity and cooperation where the common good prevails over individual interest.

Editor in Chief James Earl E. Ogatis Writers Myleen S. Subang, Sheila Mae H. Toreno, Maria Corazon M. Buala, Aileen Joy M. Subade, Ann Marie S. Tabura, Joan N. Capaciete PRDP InfoACE Writer April Grace R. Padilla SAAD Program Writers Christ John Gamarcha & Cedie Bataga Photographers Janine Marie G. Improgo and Jerem V. De Guzman Layout Artist Sheila Mae H. Toreno Circulation Manager Armando E. Emano westernvisayas.da.gov.ph

Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter, MNSA, CESO III Regional Technical Director for Operations & Extension Engr. Jose Albert A. Barrogo Regional Technical Director for Research & Regulations Dr. Peter S. Sobrevega 2

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da_rafid6@yahoo.com Department of Agriculture - Western Visayas dawesternvisayas Ani at Kita Western Visayas

AGRI NEWS

DA execs review plans to avert PH food shortage amid crises Harness the power of locally-developed technologies while the world is at a disadvantage position to enhance global trade.

There’s no need to panic. We have to level up our food production, use the best technologies and innovations. Use the best local materials that we have because we need to survive.

William D. Dar, PhD DA Secretary

M

embers of the Department of Agriculture (DA) national management committee assessed and improved the agency’s immediate responses and sustainable plans anchored on the OneDA Reform Agenda to prevent further agricultural economic slowdown and threats of food insecurity caused by the ongoing pandemic and conflicts between Russia and Ukraine during a meeting held on March 28 to 30 in Iloilo City.

DA Secretary William D. Dar said that the Ukraine War had disrupted the global food supply chain where the rising petroleum prices led to increasing costs of agricultural inputs. Delayed or inefficient crisis response will eventually result in lower productivity output; thus, the department recently launched the Plant, Plant, Plant Program Part 2.

Given the limited resources, the DA determined five focus areas to boost and fund instantly to accelerate local food production despite worsening global concerns.

In a bid to maintain food security, DA had sought an additional P8 billion for farmers’ fertilizer subsidy

and funding support to urban and peri-urban agricultural areas. The agency will pursue more interventions and research on aquaculture and mariculture to increase fish supply.

The government will also upscale the adoption of locally-generated technologies in feed formulation to aid the livestock, poultry, and fishery sectors. Enhancing the food marketing systems through the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita and providing logistic assistance to farmer cooperatives and associations will mobilize food from surplus to deficient areas.

“We are realigning our budget purposely for these focus areas.

We ask the government to give additional budget to sustain and level up food production, making the prices more affordable and supplies more accessible,” Dar cited.

provinces nationwide to discuss the plan of intensifying the local palay procurement. To prop up the LGU’s mandate on buffer-stoking, the DA will provide them with concessional loans through the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.

“This will lead to a more competitive procurement process during palay harvest, which traders can no longer dominate. The LGUs will now buy, dry, mill, store, and sell rice to their constituents,” the agri chief said.

In response to the high fertilizer prices, Dar calls for the adoption of a balanced fertilization strategy to lower production costs while improving technology efficiency levels.

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Following the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte on the secretary’s proposal to extend palay bufferstocking to 30 days, the DA top management will convene with the heads of the top 20 producing HOST. Department of Agriculture Western Visayas Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter welcomes the National MANCOM members headed by Secretary William Dar to Iloilo City.

(PHOTO BY:JEREM V. DE GUZMAN)

MANCOM MEMBERS. Members of the National Management Committee pose with DA Secretary William D. Dar during the three-day meeting held in Iloilo City. (PHOTO BY:JEREM V. DE GUZMAN)

KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

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PHOTOS BY: JEREM V. DE GUZMAN

AGRI NEWS

Palay Sikatan techno demo increases yield in Tobias Fornier The Department of Agriculture (DA) Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) introduced six certified inbred rice varieties in Tobias Fornier, Antique, through Palay Sikatan techno demo farms for farmers to improve their productivity and profitability amid the various sectoral constraints.

The Palay Sikatan is part of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program, with a P3 billion annual allocation. It aims to demonstrate the advantages of planting high-quality inbred seeds composed of national, regional, and newly released varieties using modern farm machinery to lower the cost of producing rice, according to Fennie Lyn A. Pantin, PhilRice - Negros RCEF Regional Coordinator.

Certified inbred seeds can boost farmers' yield by at least 10 percent and maximize the use of other inputs, thus lowering the production expenses.

Six-hectare contiguous demonstration farms in Tobias Fornier town were planted to the following inbred seeds as recommended by PhilRice in the wet and dry cropping seasons (2021-2022): • National varieties: NSIC Rc216 and NSIC Rc222 • Regional varieties: PSB Rc10 and PSB Rc82 • Newly released varieties: NSIC Rc 402, NSIC Rc 480, NSIC Rc 506 and NSIC Rc 442 "We tapped four farmers as cooperators here, and each of them allotted one or two hectares for technology demo.These farmers are actual rice tillers and members of an accredited farmers association.

They are as well beneficiaries of the RCEF mechanization program of the department," she said.

The farmer-cooperators will be given P25,000.00 cash assistance as reimbursement for their expenses incurred in purchasing seeds, 4

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Sa mga bag-o nga binhi, maayo ang performance sang NSIC Rc480 kag NSIC Rc506. May ibato sa mga sakit-sakit kaangay sang stemborer kag leafholder. Naghapay sanda bangud sa Bagyong Odette pero nagbangon pagkatapos sing darwa ka adlaw.

Jose E. Obasan President, Poblacion Sur FA fertilizers, pesticides, and labor from land preparation to harvesting.

PhilRice also equipped farmers with technologies and practices for proper plant care, pest diagnosis, and fertilizer application.

As direct seeding/broadcasting is widely adopted in the region, farmercooperators follow the PhilRice recommended seeding rate of 40 kilograms per hectare using the granular applicator granted to them by the DA Western Visayas.

Meanwhile, PhilRice, in collaboration with the Provincial and Municipal Agriculture Offices, assists farmers in the pest management and proper fertilization of palay.

Pantin said they urged local farmers to use the Minus One Element Technique (MOET) to determine the right fertilizer amount to apply based on the soil nutrient deficiency analysis.

"We encourage our cooperators to closely monitor their fields to

diagnose, identify and manage pest incidents. We discourage them from immediately resorting to applying chemical pesticides until such time that the emerging pests and insects are properly identified," Pantin emphasized.

In the wet season last year, farmers in Tobias Fornier attained 4.95 metric tons per hectare average yield at 14 percent moisture content. Based on the actual field data, NSIC Rc 216 has the highest average yield per hectare of 6.76 metric tons per hectare, and the lowest is PSB Rc 82 with 4.22 metric tons per hectare yield.

Meanwhile, the yield performance of inbred seeds planted this dry season is yet to be determined until the entire demonstration site is harvested. The Institute put up similar demo sites in Roxas City and Panay in Capiz; Bugasong, Antique; Lezo and Ibajay, Aklan this dry season.

Municipal agriculturist Renesito Labnao credited the increase in the palay yield to the establishment of the

AGRI NEWS DA execs review from

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According to him, DA is now mass producing the biostimulant, Bio-N through the University of the Philippines Los Baños, which will be ready for distribution to farmers by the wet planting season.

“These are the kind of technologies that we have to fast-track and fund, which will directly impact productivity and can be scaled at national levels,” Dar emphasized.

Seeds, inorganic fertilizers, and biostimulants will be handed early to farmers for the wet planting season to sustain the gains in the 2020 to 2021 production, which grew by 3.4 percent.

techno farm and the inputs provided

by DA, PhilRice, PhilMech, Agricultural Training Institute, and the provincial agricultural office.

"Mayad gid kay may pili-an kita nga mga baridad sang palay ilabi na kay rainfed ang kalabanan sang aton talamnan. Bahul gid ini nga bagay para magtaas ang aton suplay sang pagkaon," said Labnao. He urged farmer-cooperators to disseminate the technologies they gained from the government to their neighboring farmers.

PhilMech provided the association with a rice combine harvester, fourwheel-drive tractor, and other farm equipment to speed up and lessen the drudgery in their farm activities.

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fishers in sustaining the country’s food requirement despite the challenges in the sector and the difficulties brought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

She emphasized, “Dapat ang mga (mangunguma) rehistrado sa Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture. Dapat duha ka ektarya panaog ang ulumahan. Kung ang inyo ginrehistro sa RSBSA is 2.1 hectares and above, indi ka pwede makabaton sang lima ka libo.”

The RFFA, as a national program, is

“Harness the power of locallyproduced technologies while the world is at a disadvantage position to enhance global trade. There is no need to panic. We have to level up our food production, use the best technologies and innovations. Use the best local materials we have because we need to survive,” said Dar, urging DA officials to exhaust all efforts to capacitate the farmers, fishers, and agripreneurs.

On the other hand, Dar ordered MANCOM members to advance the department’s biosecurity, monitoring, and surveillance measures against transboundary animal diseases such as the African Swine Fever and bird flu and to intensify the government’s hog repopulation efforts.

Guided by the Province-Led Agriculture and Fishery Extension Service (PAFES) strategy, Dar told the being implemented by the agency using the excess in the P10 billion annual RCEF allocation from the tariffs generated in rice importation.

Moreover, the cash aid aims to provide temporary relief to rice farmers who encountered a decline in income during the Rice Tariffication Law transition phase.

“Daku guid ang bulig sang RCEF Program sa aton. May ara alokasyon para sa farm mechanization, credit program, kag paghatag sang technical assistance,” said Capiz Governor Esteban Evan Contreras.

Regional Field Offices to work closely with partner State Universities and Colleges to push for more research and technology commercialization.

He also said the clustering and consolidation through the big brother and small brothers’ scheme in the project implementation will allow small and medium-sized farms to be exporters and further the development of agri-industrial business corridors.Underlining the pressing issues that derail agricultural productivity, Dar reiterated his call to OneDA Family to block off the bureaucracy problems, including slowness, inefficiency, and corruption.

“Food inflation in the regions and provinces should be a day to day worry of the OneDA Field Units.

Everyone must keep a close eye on the food prices. Price monitoring and reporting must become routine. He stressed that the antidote to high food prices is simply producing more food,” he stressed.

While efforts and innovations are now geared toward food security, DA, according to Secretary Dar, should envision food sovereignty that is more inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and resilient.

“More importantly, food sovereignty puts farmers and fishes in a position of control, autonomy, resource selfreliance, and competitiveness,” said Dar, who hopes that the P250 billion proposed budget for next year will be approved to respond to the urgent issues concerning food supplies and prices, and eventually to enable inclusivity in food production.

- SHEILA MAE H. TORENO He also underscored the significant contributions of the farming stakeholders in their pursuit of economic upheaval.- ANN MARIE S. TABURA

RFFA DISTRIBUTION. Rice farmers in Capiz receives P5,000.00 cash aid and Interventions Monitoring Card as recipients of the DA's Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program. (PHOTO BY:ANN MARIE S. TABURA)

AGRI NEWS CERTIFICATION.Guimaras Mushroom Growers Association President Edmon Mella shows a project certificate for the granting of a Mushroom Production interventions from the Department of Agriculture Western Visayas. (PHOTO BY:JEREM V. DE GUZMAN)

MUSHROOM PROJECT. Department of Agriculture Western Visayas turns over P250,000.00 worth of interventions to Guimaras Mushroom Growers Association of Buenavista, Guimaras . (PHOTO BY:JEREM V. DE GUZMAN)

Guimaras FA receives P250-k mushroom production projects from DA As mushroom farming thrives in Guimaras, the Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas (DA-WV) recently turned over to Guimaras Mushroom Growers Association the P250,000 worth of projects for the establishment of urban mushroom production located at Sitio Wawan in Brgy. San Isidro, Buenavista, Guimaras on March 17.

This project is funded under the Bayanihan 2 of DA-High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) to provide sustainable, accessible, and affordable locally grown food among communities, particularly during this pandemic.

According to DA-WV Regional HVCDP Focal Person Jonifer Frades, the Guimaras province as a peri-urban area has considerable potential in helping the metropolitan areas, like Iloilo City, in terms of food accessibility and sustainability.

“Due to limited or lack of spaces for such projects in the urban areas, we pivoted it to the peri-urban areas such as the Guimaras province,” said Frades.

The association received the fruiting house; 1,000 pieces of fruiting bags, one unit bagging machine; two units of the heavy-duty stove with LPG tank; two 10-liter capacity pressure cookers, one unit humidifier and one-unit digital hygrometer totaling to P250,000.00 that would enhance the 6

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association’s mushroom production.

As the project Cooperator, Henry Ferrer said that the project would help the association members meet the market demands for mushrooms.

Apart from that, it would also benefit his family to raise his production and income as well.

Guimaras Mushroom Association president Engr. Edmon Mella also said that these projects granted

by DA would significantly help the association members increase their income and lower the cost of production. It will also serve as the demo farm to encourage more mushroom farmers in the province.

One of the visions of the association is to make Guimaras as the mushroom capital of the region.

The province is ideal for mushroom production because of its accessibility and availability of raw materials.

other value-added products delivered to the markets in Iloilo City.

Engr. Mella also said they are preparing to produce button and shitake mushrooms soon.

On the other hand, Buenavista Municipal Agriculturist Neil Catalan thanked the DA and Guimaras Provincial Government for this project benefiting the Buenavista farmers.

He conveyed that the LGU will exert efforts for the sustainability of the project.

Meanwhile, Guimaras Acting Provincial Agriculturist Alvin Nava also graced the ceremonial turn-over, and he complimented the organization for acquiring the project.

He also urged the group to develop linkages to other government institutions that would assist them in marketing their products and in improving their productivity and profitability.- MYLEEN S. SUBANG

Engr. Edmon Mella President, Guimaras Mushroom Association Right now, the association has 27 farmer cooperators, and they grow fresh oyster mushrooms. The surplus of their production is processed into mushroom chicharron, lumpia, and

GRANT. Guimaras Mushroom Growers Association President Edmon Mella receives a project certificate for the granting of a Mushroom Production interventions from the Department of Agriculture Western Visayas High Value Crops Development Program Focal Person Jonifer Frades. (PHOTO BY:JEREM V. DE GUZMAN)

AGRI NEWS

Iloilo Barangay Biosecurity Officers trained to help prevent ASF entry Aiming to capacitate Barangay Biosecurity Officers on the threat of African Swine Fever (ASF), the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas in collaboration with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) 6 held a technical training and simulation activity on specimen collection with the 21 agricultural technicians from Iloilo’s 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts on March 4.

According to Iloilo Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Darel Tabuada, the province had shipped 145,288 heads (P1.6 billion worth of transactions) of swine to Metro Manila and Luzon from January to December last year.

With this, the provincial government is serious about its biosecurity measures and the implementation of the provincial ordinance against the entry of the ASF virus.

This training is mounted to build the capabilities for surveillance, quarantine, quick response, and apprehension of designated Barangay Biosecurity Officers (BBOs) against the threats of ASF. This dreaded disease continues to spread nationwide and is nearing Western Visayas region.

The provincial government is partnering with private sectors for its IEC campaigns.

WE are now working on institutionalizing backyard farms' biosecurity measures through the BBOs and institionalizing sample collection and submission of reports to RADDL.

“In your area of assignment, you will take the lead in implementing the profound responsibility of biosecurity to ensure and maintain our ASFfree status. Likewise, as livestock technicians, you will secure and monitor the movement of local swine across the provinces and regions,” said Mary Ann Ramos, ATI RTC 6 Training Superintendent.

Dr. Darel Tabuada Iloilo Provincial Veterinarian

He added that they are also strengthening the surveillance in farms, cold storage, supermarkets, hotels, and restaurants in Iloilo.

As indicated in the provincial ordinance of ASF, the Iloilo government is also establishing a database of all backyard and commercial farmers through the aid of geotagging. The database will be the basis for the provision of indemnification to affected farmers.

The lloilo Provincial Veterinary Office urges municipal and barangay leaders to adopt ASF preventive measures, as stated in the provincial ordinance.

All trained BBOs will be receiving kits from ATI RTC 6.

Similar technical training is set for BBOs from 3rd and 4th districts on March 8 in Passi City, and for the 5th district in Estancia on March 11.MARIA CORAZON M. BUALA

Dr. Jonic Natividad, DA-WV Regulatory Division Chief and ASF Regional Task Force Focal Person, and Dr. Lerissa Balopeños, Regional Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) chief, are among the technical resource persons during the training.

“One of the best practices in Western Visayas is the strict disinfection measures in various terminals such as municipal boundaries, airports, and seaports. This continuously makes the island free from ASF. I also lobby to other provinces to follow Iloilo province on their passage and reinforcement of their provincial ordinance. This is stronger compared to the issuance of executive orders. The task force also appeals to the municipal executives to craft their respective ordinances, reinforcing surveillance, quarantine, quick response, and apprehension measures,” said Natividad.

BARANGAY BIOSECURITY OFFICERS. Designated Barangay Biosecurity Officers of Iloilo complete their training on Specimen Collection conducted by the Department of Agriculture Western Visayas' Regulatory Division and Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center VI. (PHOTO BY:MARIA CORAZON M. BUALA)

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The report showed a price increase in the 4th and 5th week of December 2021 to the 3rd week of January in 2022.

"Through coordination with OPA Negros, there's a downtrend in the prices of most of these lowland vegetables as of Feb. 2, 2022, which is close to their prices monitored last Dec. 16, a day before Typhoon Odette," the DA-AMAD Chief added.

Lowland vegetables such as

ampalaya, eggplant, and okra have recorded a significant decrease in prices this week since locallyproduced vegetables are now restocked in the local markets, contributing to the decline in retail prices.

Meanwhile, the DA Price Monitoring Report for the 4th week of January (Jan. 24 to 28, 2022) likewise indicates a stable retail price and an adequate supply of most lowland and highland vegetables in the region. - MYLEEN S. SUBANG KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

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AGRI NEWS

Kadiwa features Davao products in Iloilo City With the continuous establishment of various market linkages to promote and sell the products of the farmers and fishers directly to the consumers, the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita of the Department of Agriculture (DA) brought the commodities from the DA- Region XI-Davao Region through its “Kadiwa On-Wheels” wherein the opening of exhibit was held at Robinsons Place Iloilo, March 28.

DA Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs Kristine Evangelista expressed her appreciation to the farmers for participating in various DA activities.

We thank our farmers for participating in the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita, which is one of the programs of DA as all these are also for them.

We're trying to open as many doors as we can to increase their income. We assure them that Kadiwa program will continue and we will further strengthen it through branding, market-matching, meeting, and selling.

Kristine Evangelista DA Undersecretary 8

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She further lauded the dedication that the DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (DA-AMAD) staff and Kadiwa partners all throughout the country have rendered to provide assistance and guidance among the participating Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) to the program.

“We’re also thankful to the AMAD for all the efforts in guiding our farmers.

May they continue to be dedicated to helping them and the malls and private sector who are partnering with us. Hopefully, this will be continued, one generation after the other, to further exemplify the spirit of Kadiwa,” added Evangelista.

In response, Benjamin Musa from Durian Industry Association of Davao gave his message of appreciation for how the program has helped them in several ways.

“We’re among the recipients of DA interventions, two delivery trucks and crates that we utilize for our Kadiwa on Wheels. This is actually the fourth place that we have gone to. We already went to Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod, and now, Iloilo. We have a very fond experience, and we almost consider each other a family. The Kadiwa on Wheels has become a good alternative to sell our products.

As farmers from Davao, we felt that

this initiative is beneficial for us as we have directly sold our products,” he said.

Alongside Evangelista, the Director of Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) Ramon Yedra and Eden Arguelles, Asstistant Lease Manager of Robinsons Land Corporation, have led the ribboncutting of the four-day exhibit.

The different stalls offer durian, mangosteen, lansones, marang, jackfruit, pomelo, lakatan, cardava, pineapple, avocado, other tropical fruits, and delicacies. This activity runs starting March 28 until March 31, 2022 from 8 am to 6 pm. This Kadiwa was held through the DA-Region XI- Davao Region in coordination with the DA Western Visayas, Iloilo City Government, and Robinsons Land Corporation. - APRIL GRACE R. PADILLA

AGRI NEWS

RPCO 6 holds 1st quarter meeting, confers Gawad Salakot '21 award In view of presenting the project updates and strengthening the management’s capability in addressing the concerns relevant to the PRDP activities and processes, the Department of Agriculture- Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office 6 (RPCO 6) held its First Quarter Coordination Meeting at WESVIARC, Hamungaya, Buntatala, Jaro, Iloilo City on March 22.

RPCO 6 Deputy Project Director Engr.

Moises D. Mana-ay presented the updates per component and on the AF1 and AF2, plans for the upcoming 14th World Bank Implementation Support Mission, and agreements during the conduct of the Project Support Office Visayas (PSO Visayas) Management Meeting held last March 18, 2022 in Danao, Panglao, Bohol. Likewise, Administrative Unit Head Zarlina B. Cuello presented the Allowable Procurement Activities during Election Period.

GAWAD SALAKOT AWARD. DA Western Visayas' Accountant Mary Grace Herbolario on behalf of the I-BUILD Component Group receives the USWAG Award for the highest rate of Operations and Maintenance Audit System from RPCO 6 Deputy Project Director Engr. Moises Mana-ay. (PHOTO BY:APRIL GRACE R. PADILLA)

Moreover, the presentation of the Gawad Salakot 2021 Awards conferred by PSO Visayas to the RPCO 6 and the provincial LGU winners were also done during the meeting.

The following awards were given to RPCO 6: 1. I-BUILD USWAG AWARD for the highest rate of OMAS conducted 2. I-REAP MAPATUBASON AWARD

Kadiwa market stabilizes veggies supply, prices in Bacolod City To tackle the rising trend in the prices of lowland vegetables in the highly urbanized areas of Negros Occ., the Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas (DA-WV) works with the Provincial Agriculture Office (OPA) and Kadiwa operators in initiating the 'Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita' in the metro.

This action also intends to stabilize the price and augment the insufficient supply of vegetables and other agricultural goods in the area.

DA-WV initiated the Kadiwa on Wheels in Kabankalan City to provide affordable agricultural products among the city residents and the nearby communities. Kabankalan City is one of the most affected areas of Typhoon Odette.

Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division Chief Maria Teresa Solis said "Negros Occidental is among the hardly-hit areas of Typhoon Odette. The damages on high value crops cause the insufficient supply of lowland vegetables in the

highly urbanized cities like Bacolod."

Solis also said damages in production areas were experienced in Southern Negros, particularly in Sipalay, Cauayan, and Hinigaran towns, causing for the shortage in supply and the increase in price of these commodities.

After the typhoon, the metro Bacolod's vegetable supplies came from the provinces of Iloilo, Cebu, Cagayan, Baguio, and Mindoro. The transportation and freight expenses contributed to increased prices of the products.

The DA Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) weekly comparative monitoring report of lowland and highland vegetables prices conducted in Libertad Public Market in Bacolod City indicated a significant increase in the prices for weeks from the typhoon's outset.

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for the most number of I-REAP Subprojects generated in CY 2021 3. I-BUILD MAPATUBASON AWARD for the most number of I-BUILD Subprojects generated in CY 2021 4. KATIGAYUNAN AWARD as the most improved RPCO Procurement Unit in the Visayas (Procurement Unit) 5. I-REAP HIMPIT AWARD for the highest I-REAP disbursement rate in the Visayas Cluster for CY 2021 (Province of Negros Occidental) 6. MABINUNGAHON AWARD for the Swine Fattening Enterprise which has reached a sufficient level of sustainability based on the performance of their enterprise operations (Province of Negros Occidental) 7. MABINUNGAHON AWARD for the Rehabilitation of Fishing Equipment for Blue Swimming Crab Enterprise which has reached a sufficient level of sustainability based on the performance of their enterprise operations (Province of Negros Occidental) 8. MABINUNGAHON AWARD for the Piglet Production and Marketing Project which has reached a sufficient level of sustainability based on the performance of their enterprise operations (Province of Iloilo) 9. MABINUNGAHON AWARD for the Lambaklad Livelihood Project which has reached a sufficient level of sustainability based on the performance of their enterprise operations (Province of Antique) The Gawad Salakot Awards is an initiative of the Project Support Office recognizing the achievements of the different RPCOs and local government units of PRDP under the Visayas Cluster. - APRIL GRACE R. PADILLA KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

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AGRI NEWS LEA DEALA

DINGLE, ILOILO

CONCEPCION CARILLO BINGAWAN, ILOILO

ELIZABETH SOL LEGANES, ILOILO

MELY GALERA

BELISON, ANTIQUE

Agri exhibit features top WV rural women entrepreneurs In observance of the 2022 National Women's Month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas features the outstanding rural women farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, and women prime movers in the agrifishery sector in a week-long exhibit dubbed as "Babaye, Ka-Agri" at SM City Iloilo, March 1.

DA Western Visayas Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter said the celebration seeks to recognize the efforts and contributions of rural women in the agriculture and fishery sector, which comprises 45.92 percent of the 831,921 encoded farmers and fishers in the government's registry system.

In the OneDA Reform Agenda of the agency, there is one strategy which focuses on women engagement under the pilar of professionalization.

Women’s role in agriculture and fisheries is huge in terms of employment generation.

The majority of the women who came here today are entrepreneurs. They generate employment within their community and contribute to the economic development and food security.

Remelyn R. Recoter DA-WV Regional Executive Director According to Recoter, as mandated by the law, five percent of the annual budget of any government agency is allotted for Gender and Development and women's 8

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capacity enhancement programs.

DA expands the provision of support on agribusiness, production, and postharvest facilities to women's organizations and Rural Improvement Clubs, especially the nation faces a challenge on the aging population of farmers.

Meanwhile, DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 6 Regional Director Remia Aparri said they had served both men and women fishermen in capture fisheries, aquaculture, postharvest, and training. At least 92,950 women fishers out of the 255,000 registered fisherfolk received interventions from the bureau last year.

Quote cards, agricultural commodities, and value-added products of the region's outstanding rural women awardees from 2016 to 2021, including Lea Deala of Dingle, Iloilo; Elizabeth Sol of Leganes, Iloilo; Concepcion Carillo of Bingawan, Iloilo; Mely Galera of Belison, Antique; and Mercedita Cubar of Pototan, Iloilo were featured in the exhibit.

As a former OFW, Cubar, 68, stirred

women attendees to go into vegetable gardening and food production as it is important this time of the pandemic.

"I provided free vegetables and crops to my neighbors who were quarantined. I want to set an example to my fellow senior citizens nga indi lang sila magpungko, magtong-its, ukon mag mahjong para mag healthy man sanda parehas kanakon," said Cubar, who shared her techniques to other community members in growing various vegetables, crops, and fruitbearing trees in a 2,000 square meters backyard lot in Brgy.

Dongsol, Pototan.

Sibalom Livestock and Poultry Raisers Association president Elma Peña, Guimaras' McNester Food Products owner and Magsasakang Siyentista Rebecca Tubongbanua, Philippine Carabao Center's top dairy farmer Wilma Capillo, and BFAR's outstanding fisherfolk –Riza Sioco of Libertad, Antique and Reynilda Partida of Carles, Iloilo—also took part in the six-day exhibit.

"We are culminating the six-year theme of the National Women's Month—We Make Change Work for Women with this exhibit. With this year's theme Agenda ng mga Kababaihan Tungo sa Kaunlaran, we honor the valuable roles and contributions of featured women in the agricultural development," said DA's GAD Program Focal Person Carmelita Fantilanan. - SHEILA MAE H. TORENO

AGRI NEWS

DA reaches out to farmers in Ajuy thru info caravan (BFAR), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), and Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) vowed to continue supporting the farmers.

AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION CARAVAN. Department of Agriculture Western Visayas' Regional Information Officer James Earl Ogatis leads the conduct of the first Agricultural Informaiton Caravan this year in Brgy. Lanjagan, Ajuy, Iloilo . (PHOTO BY:SHEILA MAE H. TORENO)

Aiming to strengthen the awareness among stakeholders on agricultural information and updates, the Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas resumed the face-to-face conduct of Information Caravan held in Lanjagan, Ajuy, Iloilo, March 10.

Over 100 farmers, animal raisers, and fishers from the different barangays in Ajuy gathered and learned about the agency's different programs and services that center on food security and resiliency to help them become prepared, resilient, and competitive despite the emerging issues in the farming sector.

During the program, DA-WV Regional Information Officer James Earl Ogatis discussed salient features of the OneDA Reform Agenda approach to make the agriculture sector globally competitive, food secure, and resilient.

Ajuy Municipal Agriculturist Dr. BJ Jalando-on thanked the DA and its line agencies for bringing agricultural information, which he believed could greatly help the farmers and fishers of the town.

The Municipal Agriculture Office gathered farmers who have not yet availed any interventions from the government to take part in the caravan for them to learn how to avail the various programs and services of the government to further their farm productivity and income.

Representatives from the DA banner programs, Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC), Agribusiness and Marketing Division (AMAD) discussed

the various projects and interventions they provide to the farming communities.

Meanwhile, resource persons from the Iloilo Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

The DA also distributed fruit-trees seedlings from the Iloilo Research Outreach Station during the activity.

Farmers who actively participated in the open forum received various information, education materials on the different commodity production guides, promotional materials such as flashlights, umbrellas, hats, longsleeved shirts from DA-Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section.

Iloilo 5th District Board Member Carol Espinosa-Diaz was also present to grace the event. She expressed her appreciation to the DA for bringing the agency's programs and services closer to Ajuy farmers. - MYLEEN S. SUBANG

Free production guide materials and fruit tree seedlings were distributed to farmers of Ajuy, Iloilo after attending a one-day Agricultural Information Caravan. (PHOTOS BY:SHEILA MAE H. TORENO)

LGU, ISAT-U in Leon boost youth involvement in agriculture The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Leon, Iloilo, in collaboration with Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISATU) Leon Campus, intensified youth involvement in the agri sector with community-based activity in crop production.

"Youth engagement in agriculture is our primary goal since the university is committed to providing quality and relevant education, professional instruction, and training in sciences, arts, architecture, engineering, agriculture, and forestry to produce globally competitive and eco-friendly human resources," said campus administrator Julito C. Aligaen.

The instruction was clearly

manifested by their subject teacher Julie Ann C. Casido, who thought out of the box on what the youngsters can positively contribute to their family and community in these trying times of the COVID 19 pandemic that is relevant to their course, added Aligaen.

The students of Casido indulged in production management of grain crops with emphasis on rice and corn and were tilling their land in the mountain barangays of Leon following the learnings they got in school.

From the morphology, growth, and development of rice and corn plant, LGU, ISAT-U on p26 11

KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

AGRI NEWS

SOA on smart rice agri trains 1 .9k NegOcc farmers Suñer encouraged farmers to adopt the PalayCheck System properly and recommended rice production techniques to translate the soaring price of farm inputs into an increase in the rice production volume and yield.

SCHOOL ON AIR. Department of Agriculture Western Visayas' Rice Program grants granular applicators to Aluyan Caduha-an Farmers' Association in Cadiz City and Manara Puey Irrigators' Association in Sagay City as the most active farmers associations to the conduct of the School On Air on Smart Rice Agriculture in 2021. (PHOTOS BY:SHEILA MAE H. TORENO)

The School-On-Air on Smart Rice Agriculture (SOA-SRA) Technologies aired over DYEZ Aksyon Radyo from June to September last year seeks to optimize the yield performance and reduce the production expenses of some 1,900 participating farmers, and to raise the rice self-sufficiency level of Negros Occidental, which currently stands at 87.52 percent.

As a collaborative endeavor of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), DA Western Visayas, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and the Provincial Government, the SOASRA, which is being implemented nationwide, intends to capacitate farmers in resolving the emerging sectoral constraints and making the rice production industry more resilient and competitive.

"We have farmer-graduates from 25 cities and towns here in Negros Occidental with the highest number of graduates from Sipalay City, Hinoba-an, and San Carlos City," said Nikki Gallego of ATI Regional Training Center 6 during the Provincial Mass Graduation and Awarding Program held on February 17 at Natures' Village in Talisay City.

Gallego said that 32 canned and live episodes broadcasted primarily centered on the PalayCheck System, climate-smart agricultural practices, and digital rice production tools aimed at sustaining smallholder farmers' technical education, particularly in locations with not more than four metric tons per hectare 10

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KAUMAHAN

average yield.

Meanwhile, DA Western Visayas' Regional Information Officer James Earl Ogatis said, "we are maximizing the use of radio as our aid in reaching out and transferring necessary technical know-how to farmers in far-flung locations as part of the agency's extension service. With ATI, we have seen that there is still a large population of farmers who rely on radio to source out info and updates on agriculture despite the fast proliferation of social media."

He likewise mentioned that the SOASRA is being conducted to augment the limited reach of agricultural extension workers (AEWs). He added that farmers need to be equipped to ensure profitability in rice production despite the inevitable rise in the cost of fertilizer, fuel, and other farm inputs.

"DA recommends that farmers subject their crop soil for lab analysis to determine the inputs required for efficient fertilizer application. Our soil analysis is for free. Coordinate with your respective local agriculture office to avail the service at the Regional Soils Laboratory in Iloilo City," Ogatis told.

He urged attendees to utilize organic fertilizers such as vermicast and vermi tea and refrain from burning rice straws that make rice lands less productive.

PhilRice Negros Supervising Science Research Specialist Albert Christian

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Provincial Government had allotted P220,000.00 counterpart to conduct and provide financial incentives to top-performing SOA-SRA graduates.

She added that on top of the topics discussed over the radio, AEWs of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist also provided on-field technical support and mentoring to rice farmer-enrollees.

Part of our Provincial Development Agenda ‘ABANSE NEGRENSE’ is Agriculture and Food Security. The provincial government supported the conduct of SOA-SRA since it is our means to reach farmers in remote areas and deliver the appropriate technologies they need to learn to attain profitability.

Dina Genzola Acting Provincial Agriculturist To ascertain the impact of SOA-SRA Technologies on the Negrense group, the Provincial Government created a Search for Outstanding Farmer Graduates based on the number of technologies adopted as manifested in the standing crop (40%), management skills, and technical knowledge (20%), learning attitude and pattern of decision making (20%), and farm record keeping (20%).

Three top-performing graduates received P35,000.00, P25,000.00, and P15,000.00 cash awards, respectively, on top of the P5,000.00 incentives they received as the municipal awardees. Provincial Outstanding SOA-SRA Farmer-Graduates were Cornelia Santiana of Brgy. Caduha-an, School On Air on p26

PHOTOS BY: JEREM V. DE GUZMAN

AGRI NEWS

Antique rice farmers get P171-M cash aid under RCEF The Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas started the distribution of the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program in Antique on March 14 in order to compensate the losses of smallholder farmers affected by the government’s move to liberalize rice importation as well as the worsening economic results of the pandemic.

DA and the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines kicked off the cash aid disbursement in San Jose and Belison with 1,040 and 813 farmer-beneficiaries, respectively.

Tagged as the Antique’s rice bowl, the Municipality of Sibalom has the highest allocation to benefit 4,435 rice growers, followed by Tobias Fornier and San Remigio.

Out of the P1.17 billion RFFA budget allotted to Region 6, the Province of Antique, with 34,333 master-listed rice farmers are bound to receive a total of P171.66-million cash grants from DA. As cited in the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) generated annually is intended to support local farmers in terms of mechanization with a P5 billion budget, certified inbred seeds’ provision – P3 billion, enhanced credit assistance–P1 billion, and extension and training – P1 billion.

Director Recoter lauded the contributions of local farmers whom she considered as among the economic frontliners amid the occurrence of the global health crisis.

According to DA Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter, the said interventions were obtained from the excess in the P10-billion RCEF tariff revenues amounting to P2.13 billion in 2019 and P5.47 billion in 2020.

The excess generated annually has to be utilized for crop insurance, diversification, and financial assistance. Because of the pandemic, the government prioritized the utilization of excess funds on providing cash subsidy to farmers with two hectares and below rice lands.

Remelyn R. Recoter Regional Executive Director

“I would like to thank our farmers who ensure the region’s food security despite the threats of the COVID-19 and the onslaughts of typhoons. In 2020, Western Visayas posted a 9.7

percent growth rate in the value of production. Agriculture and fishery is the only sector with positive growth as per the report of the National Economic Development Authority,” she added.

She urged farmer-recipients to properly utilize the P5,000.00 cash subsidy they availed as they are also adversely affected by the steady rise in fertilizer and fuel prices.

On the other hand, Antique provincial agriculturist Nicolasito S. Calawag is pushing for other farmers in the province to enroll in the government’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) for them to have access to the different services from the DA such as the RFFA. - SHEILA MAE H. TORENO

DA launches P233-M RFFA in Capiz The Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas launched the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program for Capiz rice farmers on February 7 at the Municipality of Cuartero.

During the provincial launching, DA Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter said that 46,637 rice growers with two hectares or less farm areas are qualified to receive the cash grants funded under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Out of the P233,185,000.00 allocation for Capiz, P15.09 million were already

distributed to 3,018 rice farmers of Cuartero during the two-day RFFA payout.

Recoter commended the constant support of the local farmers and RFFA in Capiz on p5

KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

13

AGRI NEWS

PHOTOS BY: ALAN JAY JACALAN

Korean gov’t funds P200-M smart greenhouse facilities in Iloilo

Through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) - Education, Promotion, and Information Service in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (EPIS), the South Korean government granted P200-million worth of smart greenhouse project to the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas to ramp up the production of high-value crops and vegetables all year round in the region.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar and MAFRA-EPIS President Dr. Lee Jong Soon spearheaded the inauguration on March 31 at Western Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center (WESVIARC), Jaro, Iloilo City.

"Strategic locations are targeted to showcase these new technologies.

This smart greenhouse project will lead to Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita," said Dar, who likewise emphasized that the technology will increase vegetable production by five to eight tons, thus capacitating small and mid-sized farmers amid current climate issues.

PHOTOS BY: ALAN JAY JACALAN

Replicated from its pilot sites in Baguio City and Tanay, Rizal, this newly constructed Korean smart

12

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greenhouse in WESVIARC is climateproof, mechanized, and automated.

It will help local farmers cope with the increasing demand for food from locals and tourists.

This is the kind of technology that we want to see common in the future. We are still one of the lowest total factor productivities in agriculture.

Let us now use the best technologies to benefit farmers at a much higher level of productivity.

William D. Dar DA Secretary Apart from mitigating the effects of climate change on food production, the Korean greenhouse project will also showcase good agricultural practices that farmers should adopt to ensure higher quality, safety, and sustainability of crop cultivation.

Dar lauded the continuous assistance of MAFRA-EPIS for the transformation of Philippine agriculture.

DA Western Visayas Regional

Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter thanked the Korean government for the 10 smart greenhouses installed in WESVIARC to improve the local production and yield of vegetables and high-value crops.

She said the facilities would offer training opportunities to individual farmers and entrepreneurs who want to invest in smart greenhouse projects so the region can attain selfsufficiency in those commodities.

"Aside from this intervention from MAFRA, by the end of the year, the Korea International Cooperation Agency will also construct smart greenhouses in the tourist areas in the provinces in Region 6 to be able to plant crops off-season," Recoter shared.

Secretary Dar also led the turnover and distribution of agri-fishery projects such as farm machinery to farmers' cooperatives and associations in the region involved in rice, corn, and poultry farming.

DA distributed Quick Response Funds (QRF) amounting to P6.2 million for Guimaras and P34 million for

Moreover, Capiz State University, West Visayas State University, and the University of Antique obtained P1 million each for the Rapid Appraisal of the Province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension System (PAFES).

Barotac Nuevo Development Cooperative became a beneficiary of the P10-million Caradairy Facility Project from the Philippine Carabao Center. At the same time, two livestock groups from Iloilo were recipients of the National Dairy Authority's Central Iloilo Dairy Expansion program.

Twenty-one farmers also claimed their indemnity checks amounting to P155,558.00 from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation. The said amount is part of the P235-million crop indemnification approved for payment from January to March.

BFAR and Agricultural Training

Institute also granted livelihood and learning site projects to Iloilo food producers during today's project distribution.

Secretary Dar also inaugurated the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR)-funded facilities in WESVIARC, including the Tissue Culture Laboratory, Organic R&D Center, Multi-Purpose R&D Facility, Regional Crop Protection Center Laboratory, and the Farmers' Exhibit and Trading Center.

PHOTOS BY: JEREM V. DE GUZMAN

Iloilo province to help the farmers recover from the damages caused

by Typhoon Odette in December last year. The agency also handed P13.5 million QRF to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to rehabilitate fishing communities in the region.

AGRI NEWS

"These P37-million Bayanihan II projects are a significant investment of the national government to upgrade, improve, strengthen, and introduce state-of-the-art facilities which should be copied in all regional research centers," said Dar. He instructed researchers to develop studies and technologies that can be scaled out to fight hunger and food insufficiency amid the increasing prices of inputs and disruptions in the global agri trade.

"We must be there to bring hope and possible solutions. We can survive when we have enough food to eat," he added. - SHEILA MAE H. TORENO

PRDP groundbreaks new abattoir in Nueva Valencia Engr. Jose Albert A. Barrogo and concerned staff of the Regional Project Coordination Office 6 (RPCO 6) also graced the event. A preconstruction conference for the Php 36,977,813.93- worth slaughterhouse was further held after the ceremony in order to discuss the fundamentals on the implementation of the subproject underlining the contract documents, PRDP’s processing of disbursement, billing guidelines and quality control, among others, to the project implementers and stakeholders.

The municipality of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras formally held the groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of its 2000 square meters municipal slaughterhouse funded under the Department of Agriculture- Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) on March 22.

Key officials from the Province who attended the activity were Municipal Mayor Emmanuel C. Galila, Municipal Vice Mayor Paul Vincent G. De la Cruz, SB Member- Committee Chair on Infrastructure Felix G. Servando, and Municipal Engineer Josephine G. Servando. Meanwhile, the Project Support Office (PSO) Visayas team headed by its Deputy Project Director

The construction of the facility is expected to benefit at least 1,841 livestock raisers, 33 meat vendors, 21 resorts, and 75 eateries in the province. Likewise, it aims to establish and operate an abattoir in the municipality with an improved, humane, and standard technique in the processing of safe and quality meat.- APRIL GRACE R. PADILLA KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

15

Heeding the outcries of farmers, particularly those who produce rice in their community, prompted a government cooperative worker to form an association that will hint progress in the livelihood and income source of the locals. As a former Land Bank of the Philippines' (LBP) Cooperative Organizer, Arnulfo "Pong" Magcope had perceived the need to have a particular group in his barangay that would shift the mindsets and alleviate the plights of farmers who have long been enduring the economic setbacks in the sector.

Pong established the Pusiw Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative, with 23 members and P4,800.00 starting capital, although farmers and minimum-wage earning residents were initially reluctant to participate. Registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) on March 13, 2003, the barangay-based coop's membership expanded following the success of an equity loan program offered to qualified constituents.

Eventually, they opened their members' savings operation for regular and time deposits, leading to a better financial sphere and fostering members' willingness to assist others with monetary needs. To sustain the coop's easy access credit initiatives, they accessed P1 million revolving 14

JANUARY - MARCH 2022 KAUMAHAN

loans from LBP in 2006. Backed with laudable records in handling financing and projects, the IBON MPC has up to a P60 million credit line available and has become a trusted lending conduit for several government financing institutions in Western Visayas.

including financing for their inputs, machinery for land preparation, crop establishment, transplanting up to harvesting, and rice milling," said the general manager.

Pong opted to retire early at 49 to focus on steering the coop he founded. He had witnessed this barangay-based cooperative, composed of farm laborers, fishers, vendors, tricycle drivers, and house helpers, thrive into becoming today's multi-million cooperative.

As a requisite to the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, the Pusiw MPC was re-registered with CDA on October 29, 2009, under its new name Integrated Barangays of Numancia (IBON) Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC). The coop, which initially offered credit services, evolved into a highly diversified agricultural-based cooperative, rendering palay trading services for farm inputs and products, providing farm service, and marketing support to rice growers.

Consequently, IBON MPC expanded its services and operations to other municipalities in Aklan.

"We treated rice farming as a social enterprise. We looked into ways to assist rice growers in many areas,

We treated rice farming as a social enterprise that is why we looked into ways to assist rice growers in many areas including financing for their inputs, machinery for land preparation, crop establishment, transplanting up to harvesting and rice milling.

- ARNULFO MAGCOPE General Manager, IBON-MPC

IBON MPC sought the aid of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to materialize what they had envisioned for the rice farming community in Aklan.

In 2017, the DA, through the DA's Rice Program and Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division, granted the IBON MPC a P12.5-million worth of Rice Processing Center (RPC) II, including a 550-square meter warehouse, multi-pass rice mill, and 26-ton recirculating dryers and P2million trading capital intended to serve over 100-hectares of rice lands in Numancia. The RPC II enables the rice growers and the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) owners involved in the palay business to lessen the volatility of palay prices in the market, especially during the peak of the harvest season. The IBON MPC has two major operating schemes for RPC II. They buy the fresh palay from farmers, dry, mill, and sell the milled rice at a lower cost to their five agriventure outlets and other markets in the province. They also finance the MSMEs who buy and sell palay.

"These MSMEs seek funding from the coop and utilize the services of the processing center. They can opt to pay in kind through palay, milled rice, or cash. As we capacitate these MSMEs and other smaller associations, we are also streaming the help to a larger community of rice farmers in Aklan," Pong adds.

The coop has entered into a marketing agreement with the Provincial Government of Aklan, where the latter buys milled rice in bulk and sells them to the government employees at affordable costs. The deal provides a steady and direct marketing link to IBON MPC and its farmer members.

Although the standards of rice farming have improved in Numancia, there are still inevitable factors that often lead to losses and lesser gains in palay production. Drastic changes in the climate, increasing farm input expenses, and the plummeting farmgate price of palay are the top and longstanding concerns of farmers that the cooperative targets to resolve with the interventions from DA. Adopting a science-based and clustering approach in farming

ensures high productivity and reduces production expenses. DA designed a program that underlines the impact of clustering and consolidation in accelerating progress in local rice farmers' yield, volume, and income.

DA had established the Community Hybrid Rice Model Farms (CHRMF) in six municipalities regionwide in 2021 after piloting one in Banate, Iloilo, in 2020. The agency demonstrated the beneficial attributes of hybrid rice varieties to over 100 hectares of rice lands in Numancia for better income generation and sustainable food supply. Contiguous rice areas in the barangays of Tabangka, Poblacion, Dongon East, and Dongon West, Numancia, were planted with nine varieties of hybrid palay following the community-based and Rice Crop Manager (RCM) recommended technologies. Private companies tapped by DA as suppliers of hybrid seeds have extended technical assistance to cooperative members in their pursuit of churning out higher yields in hybrid palay production.

hybrid rice adoption, the DA eyes clustered farming as advantageous in systematizing the distribution of inputs and other required interventions from seeds to fertilizers, financing, insurance, machinery, and marketing. Likewise, the agriculture department seeks to capacitate farmers in the whole value chain, thus transforming them from being mere planters into agri-entrepreneurs.

The IBON MPC, being one of the prime cooperatives in Aklan, has also embarked on other profitable agricultural enterprises that give members income alternatives apart from rice growing.

IBON-MPC on p27

More than 150 palay growers in the municipality engaged in the project had received 202 bags of hybrid seeds at 18 kilograms per bag and 1,198 bags of fertilizer from DA. On top of the input subsidies, the DA also provided them with machinery and equipment such as the 10 units of the granular applicator, one unit riding type transplanter, and a hauling truck.

"Not only that the farmer cooperators availed of free inputs and tractors to speed up and lessen the drudgery in production, but the DA also allocated P3 million seed money," he says.

Four hybrid varieties obtained over seven tons per hectare yield, and local farmers now see the evident advantage of using hybrid varieties.

"Numancia farmers could earn at least P50,000.00 net profit per hectare of hybrid rice production should growers employ the prescribed technologies and practices," Pong cites.

Apart from persuading farmers on KAUMAHAN JANUARY - MARCH 2022

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Dingle, Iloilo gears as a rising

CACAO HUB Staunch cacao growers and promising entrepreneurs of Dingle in Iloilo province have been spurring the industry to be recognized as cacao's business capital in Western Visayas. With the rising demand for cacao beans in both domestic and global markets, the town has made its way in realizing this goal of encouraging the farmers to engage in cacao production in recent years. Being one of the pioneers in cacao production, Dingle increased from an eight-hectare area planted in 2006 and presently at 62-hectares. Of the growing cacao enthusiasts in the area, three champion practitioners were betting high for the town's industry as producer, processor, and purveyor of cacao products.

CABAYAO FARM Sustaining productivity to boost crop production One of Dingle's leading cacao producers is the Cabayao Farm in Brgy. Agtatacay.

The Cabayao siblings, Gemma and Elias, began cultivating cacao in their 3.8-hectare property in 2012.

Employing the best practices the siblings gained from technology trainings, the farm attained its highest harvest of more than one metric ton (MT) in 2020, five years since the cacao trees started producing fruits.

Gemma declared they preferred to concentrate on production, seeing the many opportunities from selling dried cacao beans and seedlings to local processors and growers. If her time warrants, she's also into tablea making and retailing as additional revenue for the family.

for cacao beans that also helped other farmers' livelihood in the area.

"We focused on the production since we are aware of the insufficient supply of raw materials (cacao beans) for the cacao processors not only here in Dingle but also in the whole province," explains Gemma.

Having this helpful intention, she motivated herself to transform the farm as a viable source of unprocessed cacao materials to the thriving processors in the locality and other parts of the region.

However, the growing requirement for cacao beans has reached the farm short of supplies to fill local clients' needs despite the farm's extended production domain.

With this, Gemma urged the smallholder cacao growers in the nearby villages to trade their crops to the farm.

“Sa subong, may ara 15 tanan ka barangay diri sa banwa nga nagadulong sang ila magagmay nga produkto nga cacao sa amon farm,” Gemma declares.

Product consolidation benefited her in providing the market requirements

At present, Cabayao farm has been circulating cacao beans in quantities to local tablea and chocolate processors in her town, in Pototan, Cabatuan, Passi City, and even outside Iloilo province, particularly in Antique. The Cabayao farm has developed its production sphere from 3.8-ha. to over eight hectares now. Cacao production has become a regular source of income for their family. She recollected that her venture into cacao farming would not be prosperous without the assistance of various agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Daku guid nga bulig ang ginhatag sa amon sang DA, PCA, DTI kag iban pa nga mga ahensya sang gobyerno kag gin-amligan guid namon ini nga mga suporta tubton nga maabot naman ang amon tinutuyo nga magpadaku pa guid ang amon produksiyon sang cacao agud nga makabulig man kami sa amon nga mga cacao growers diri sa Dingle.

- GEMMA CABAYAO OWNER, CABAYAO FARM

LORENZO FARM The booming chocolate processor in Iloilo Dingle's promising and enthusiastic cacao processor is Lorenzo Farm, located in the suburb village of Caguyuman and owned by Engr.

Rogelio Daduya and his better half Ma'am Yurie, a high school teacher.

They started processing chocolate products after initially attempting to market dried cacao beans from their 1.8-hectare farm.

"At that time, when we were set to market our product, there were not enough prospect buyers for dried cacao beans, and if there are, they bargained it for such a low price, that's why we decided to process our cacao beans into tablea," Ma'am Yurie recounts.

The farm started making tablea for household consumption. The Daduya's sent a few more tablea to family and friends, and others were sent overseas as 'pasalubong.'

Friends who tasted their homemade product prompted them to bet on the idea of tablea-making business.

Inspired by their friends' assurance in their tablea, Rogelio and Yurie began attending seminars on cacao farming and business enterprise of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to help their tablea/chocolate business.

Rogelio, a civil engineer by profession, developed tools and equipment for chocolate processing with his inventiveness. Given these innate capabilities, the couple, also driven by determination, did research supported with extensive learnings to improve their products.

The farm's chocolate products include Tsokolate or tablea, 100 percent pure cacao liquor, milk and dark chocolate bars, Dark Diamond, and their best seller—Cacao Truffles in mint, coffee, and cherry brandy flavors. Recently, they have launched the newest addition to their nutritious products, the Instant Tablea, a powdered-form tablea with muscovado sugar, and the TsokoSaba; a banana enrobed with dark chocolate.

who never fail to help us in terms of product development and labeling, good manufacturing practices, and most importantly, the facilities and equipment that we lack to increase our production capacity," the teacherentrepreneur adds.

Through the help of DA and DTI nag-improve ang quality sang amon chocolate products because of the trainings we have undergone from these agencies.

- ENGR. ROGELIO DADUYA OWNER, LORENZO FARM

Lorenzo Farm has recently received an award as the Best Product of Western Visayas (food category) during the Panublion Heritage Fair 2020 product exhibit organized by the DTI for the micro-small and medium entrepreneurs.

"Ang Lorenzo Farm ang may amo ni nga chocoloate products diri sa Western Visayas, and we are delighted to receive the recognition from DTI for our chocolates as the best product during the Panublion 2020 product exhibits," she quips.

She also announced that Lorenzo Farm's chocolate products are available at Iloilo Supermart chain of stores, Coffee Brewtherhood/ Superhouse Coffee, Casa Real Produkto de Iloilo, and products may be available online through their Facebook page @ lorenzofarmchocolates and at Shopee for those who wish to try their chocolate products.

Government agencies such as DA, DTI, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) supported Lorenzo Farm to upscale their products and expand their domestic and international market.

"Joining our chocolate products in the global market is one of our dream goals. We are hoping to get more support from government agencies

Lorenzo Farm is registered with Food and Drug Administration-License to Operate (FDA-LTO) and just recently received their FDA-Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) for their chocolate products.

DEALA'S INTEGRATED FARM Advancing farm enterprise through e-marketing Among the pioneers of cacao production in the area is Deala's Integrated Farm in Brgy. Tinocuan.

Jessie and Lea Deala owned the three-hectare farm embellished with various crops such as Adlai, banana, forages, dragon fruit, corn, coconut, Japanese Sweet Potato (Satsuma Imo). They also raise various poultry and livestock. Cacao is one of the major crops grown inside the farm.

Aside from producing the crop, they also delved in seedling production and value-adding farm products, like their cacao tablea. Each month, they utilize about 50 packs of cacao tablea serving as welcome drinks and retailing it at P50 per pack for the farm visitors ordering it for pasalubong.

"Our farm products are all for consumption and sale. Also, we do value-adding of our products to increase our profit. However, it hasn't been easy for us to move these days and do our business because of the pandemic," reckons Lea. Being a full-time farmer and farm manager responsible for overseeing the farm and marketing their farm produce, she channels her creativity and flexibility given any circumstances.

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With the use of online marketing such as Facebook, I always post our farm's available products, thus, resulting in some of our friends, neighbors, and residents from nearby cities becoming our regular clients.

- LEA DEALA OWNER, DEALA'S INTEGRATED FARM

Among the pioneers of cacao production in the area is Deala's Integrated Farm in Brgy. Tinocuan.

Jessie and Lea Deala owned the three-hectare farm embellished with various crops such as Adlai, banana, forages, dragon fruit, corn, coconut, Japanese Sweet Potato (Satsuma Imo). They also raise various poultry and livestock.

Cacao is one of the major crops grown inside the farm. Aside from producing the crop, they also delved in seedling production and valueadding farm products, like their cacao tablea. Each month, they utilize about 50 packs of cacao tablea serving as welcome drinks and retailing it at P50 per pack for the farm visitors ordering it for pasalubong.

"Our farm products are all for consumption and sale. Also, we do value-adding of our products to increase our profit. However, it hasn't been easy for us to move these days and do our business because of the pandemic," reckons Lea. Being a full-time farmer and farm manager responsible for overseeing the farm and marketing their farm produce, she channels her creativity and flexibility given any circumstances.

In addition, they also actively participated in trade and exhibits organized by the Department of Agriculture (DA), promoting theirproducts to strengthen linkage and increase their domestic market.

As a result, Deala's farm has connected its goods to different parts of the region.

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Even without a foreground knowledge in agriculture, the couple progressed their farm by their resourcefulness.

From there, Lea became a national finalist from DA's Search for Outstanding Women in 2016.

She held on to this recognition contributing to the rural improvement in her locality. The lady farmerentrepreneur served various farmers' associations to impart the expertise in farming and marketing strategies that she had acquired through perseverance.

"I always encourage my fellow farmers to pursue farming kay ara lang ang DA kag iban pa nga ahensya sang gobyerno nga nagabulig. Ang DA nagahatag sang mga farm inputs, machineries, and equipment kag nagabulig man nga mabaligya ang aton produkto sa uma kung wala sang market,” she caps.

Recognizing the town's potentials for cacao production, the DA has given CONVERGENCE DA, Other Agencies and LGUs Supports The LGU, through the efforts of their Municipal Agriculture Office, has formed farmer's associations to inspire farmers to go into cacao farming.

Over the years, Dingle has received various cacao technology trainings initiated by Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA).

We have availed various assistance from DA, DTI and more are stll coming to our cacao growers because they are now SEC-registered through the efforts of their President, SB Ronald Cahuya.

- MARFE QUINLAT MUNICIPAL AGRICULTURIST, DINGLE

This initiative was in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Municipal Government of Dingle.

more than 40,000 cacao seedlings as of this time. Apart from providing seedlings, they are also a recipient of various trainings and post-harvest facilities and equipment such as fermentation boxes and all-weather dryers to scale up cacao enterprise development of the area.

"Cacao industry in the region is very promising eventhough we are still in the infancy stage in terms of establishment and expansion of the crop. With this, the DA Western Visayas has pipelined various interventions to our cacao growers to further grow this industry," says DAHVCDP Cacao regional coordinator Relvin Paragua.

Meanwhile, LGU Dingle, under the leadership of Mayor Rufino Palabrica III, M.D., has steered the town as one of the prime drivers of the growing cacao industry in the region. Cacao served as the town's One-Town, One-Product (OTOP) as one of the forerunners of their economy.

They also continuously provide technical skills to their agricultural extension workers by allowing them to participate in the Training of Trainers Program to strengthen their capabilities to replicate the technology.

Seeking to boost the competitiveness of their cacao enterprise, the LGU has tied up with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to help them fund the Shared Service Facility (SSF) project.

"Soon, the completion of P2.06-million cacao processing fully furnished with roasting, cracking/winnowing, grinding, conching to molding and sealing with chiller and distilling paraphernalia will benefit the town's local cacao entrepreneurs," cites MA Quinlat.

She added that these government interventions granted to them created an impact among the local cacao growers, thus heightened the inhabitants' interest to plant more cacao in their idle lands. - MYLEEN S. SUBANG

Barangay Bandila Canubgan Farmers’ Association (BBCFA) gained Php 27,510.20 net income in six months operation of the Chicken Layer Egg Production Project provided by the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program under FY 2021.

According to BBCFA chairperson Jelly Agabon, their egg production in Barangay Bandila, Toboso, Negros Occidental started to pick up after a month of managing the project. The chicken steadily laid eggs in October 2021 and their production went on full swing by December 2021. They were able to harvest at least three to four trays of eggs per day and sold their produce to two retail stores in neighboring villages.

Agabon recognized the livelihood project as a big help for both the members and consumers.

Salamat kaayo sa Chicken Egg Layer Production Project sang SAAD. Dili lang mga amuang miyembro ang nakadawat og tabang sa proyekto apan usab na ang amuang komunidad pinaagi sa fresh ug nutritious nga itlog.

- JELLY AGABON CHAIRPERSON, BBCFA

About BBCFA Barangay Bandila Canubgan Farmers’ Association is the namesake of Sitio Canubgan, Barangay Bandila in Toboso. Said sitio is about seven kilometers from the town proper with hills and little valleys in between.

Rice and corn production are their main sources of income while other locals grow crops such as banana, cassava, sugarcane, and root crops.

In early 2021, BBCFA officials joined a consultation of the DA-SAAD through the Municipal Agriculture Office. With the increasing demand of eggs in Toboso and in the entire province of Negros Occidental amid the pandemic, the group proposed the Chicken Egg Laying Production Project.

The group envisioned the poultry project not just a source of fresh food but also as a potential enterprise that could augment the income of BBCFA members who are heavily dependent on farming.

In September 2021, DA-SAAD Western Visayas turned over 240 ready-to-lay (RTL) pullets with one-month supply of feeds, biologics, complete set of cages, feeders, and waterers among other inputs.

Two months prior to the official distribution of the RTL pullets, DA-

SAAD Western Visayas facilitated the training on layer chicken raising to prepare the beneficiaries on proper poultry management.

The group agreed to place the chicken in a communal farm and take turns in its maintenance instead of rearing the poultry individually at home. Through hard work and labor, the BBCFA built a housing facility to protect their poultry from extreme weather conditions and natural predators such as snakes and wild cats.

Two members maintain the poultry farm per day, ensuring health and safety of the animals, as well as perform cleaning and repairs.

The scheduling strategy promotes participation and familiarity with animal management among the members.

Agabon cited that at the beginning of the project there were four mortalities recorded among their laying hens due to respiratory illness. This was addressed through immediate isolation of the sick chicken and constant provision of vitamins.

To make their production more efficient, the members utilized the egg weighing scale provided by the DA-SAAD. A tray of small eggs is sold at Php 180, medium eggs at Php 190, large eggs at Php 200, extra-large Eggciting story on p26

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As a father and a husband, one will always strive hard to give his children and wife a better life. A better life gives the feeling of fulfillment and gratefulness when assertiveness is raised. Being a swine raiser is never easy, but farming gives surprises and fulfillment with the help of various agricultural technologies.

“Ako ang nagtry man magsagud sang baboy, kag nadiskobrehan ko nga daw kanami bala nga magpadaku sang baboy. Tuman guid ka daku ang nabulig sa amun pagpangabuhi.

Madamu ang akon na pruduktuhan kag nakabaligya na ako sang nagliligad nga mga binulan,” said Romeo Acosta, a recipient of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Research Outreach Station (ROS) Artifical Insemination (AI) Program.

As a father, a husband and a swine raiser Bearing multiple hats as the head of the family, the 62-year-old hog raiser from Sitio Kapitugan, San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras, Romeo is among the recipients of the DA Western Visayas’ AI Program through its Guimaras ROS. Romeo is married to Nelly and a father to two children. He works as a maintenance employee at the Provincial Hospital. Romeo earns a minimum salary for this job. As a father, he dreams of a better life condition for his children, that they may finish their studies and have a wonderful family of their own.

His wife Nelly, who works as a midwife in the provincial hospital, supports all his efforts, including swine raising. Holding on to their faith, they started with one sow. They built a pig pen at the back of their house. He started raising pigs in 2010.

When he began, he banked on his traditional knowledge of breeding the sow. He would ask some hog raisers; they travel the boar and make few arrangements for the piglets.

However, several times, he failed.

It became costly for him and risky for his sow. Eventually, his godchild Mac, a technician at the DA-WV Guimaras ROS, introduced artificial insemination (AI) technology to him.

He started learning the idea behind AI. Excited as a swine raiser, he begins his daily routine at 3 am -- checking the sow, cleaning the pigpen, and securing biosecurity to ensure his sow is healthy. After which, he checks on his small poultry and few cows and feeds them. These must be done by 7 am because his janitorial works at the hospital start immediately an hour later.

Encountering DA AI Program Romeo's exciting journey with swine growing started right after encountering the Swine AI Program of the Guimaras ROS. The Station, formerly the Jordan Breeding Station, was established in 1976 by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

It is located at San Miguel, Jordan Guimaras, about 11.5 kilometers away from Jordan wharf.

An area of 1.5 hectares was donated

by Ledesma and Company Inc. exclusively for swine breeding

and AI purposes in the Province of Guimaras. DA Western Visayas (WV) ROS is mandated to serve as a research technology center, promoting livestock and crops for the farmers, particularly in Guimaras.

Since its establishment, DA-WV ROS has served as a research production and training center in the province, transforming farmers' quality of life through the effective transfer of research development and extension.

Romeo Acosta is one of the thousand farmer-breeders who joined ROS in its journey towards changing lives.

Sang primero pa lang pagsagud ko, nahubaluan ko nga kanami bala sang programa sang DA nga paagi sa artificial insemination ang paghatag sang semilya.

Maayo guid kay wala sang deperensya ang mga idik, maayo ang pagtubo, kasubong man nga wala ko naka esperyensya nga nagmasakit ang sapat ko. Maayo guid ang semilya nga nakuha ko.

- ROMEO ACOSTA HOG RAISER, JORDAN, GUIMARAS

Romeo testifies that DA ROS technicians eventually became his good friends, “Sa kada magpanawag ako sa ila [DA technician] agud nga lantawon ang akon mga sapat kung pwede o indi, wala gid sila sang reklamo, insigida nagakadto gid sila diri.”

Understanding the AI Process The station’s AI program has been helping thousands of swine raisers in Guimaras and a portion of Iloilo. This technology for the livestock allows farmer-breeders to take advantage of genetic choices with a lower risk of disease transmission. AI requires more excellent management skills and effort than natural matings.

The general steps in conducting AI are as follows: 1) Detect the standing heat of the sow. Do not breed a sow or gilt that is not in standing heat.

Workers should be prepared to AI females immediately upon detecting standing heat, primarily when a boar stimulates heat response. The response time of the sow or gilt to the boar can be short-lived. The sooner AI is initiated, the better.

2) Clean the exterior of the vulva. AI methods aim to avoid introducing foreign material into the reproductive tract that could cause infection and hinder reproductive success. Remove as much foreign material from the exterior of the vulva as possible.

Damp or dry paper towels are suitable for this task because they are disposable, and technicians start with

a clean towel each time. Using liquid to clean the vulva can increase the risk of introducing foreign material into the reproductive tract.

3) Lubricate AI rod tip. Several lubricants are available for swine AI. Apply the lubricant to the AI rod and not to the animal.

4) Spread the vulva open with one hand and insert the AI rod into the spread vulva at an upward angle.

Carefully spread the vulva apart so that the AI rod tip is inserted without contact with the exterior (previously cleaned) vulva. The upward angle helps to avoid entering into the urinary tract and bladder. If urine comes out of the rod, withdraw the rod and use a new rod: urine can kill semen. If the rod enters the urinary tract, some bleeding may occur. Of course, this is not desirable, but if the bleeding is not severe, the mating can continue.

5) Twist counter-clockwise and push slowly in until the AI rod locks into the cervix, about eight to 10 inches. When locked, the rod will twist back after a gentle one-quarter clockwise turn.

6) Connect AI rod and semen container. Various bottles and bags of semen will attach to AI rods in different manners.

7) Stimulate the sow or gilt. It is much

better if the sow pulls the semen through uterine contractions than to force the semen into the sow by squeezing the container. The rate at which she pulls the semen in can vary and even stop during the service.

Backflow can occur and should not be alarming. It is better to have backflow into the container than to lose semen through backflow out of the vagina.

The technician can apply pressure to the back of the pig and rub her flanks and underline area. It can take up to five minutes for the semen container to empty.

8)Some technicians will remove the rod when the container is empty, while others prefer to leave it in place for several minutes.

9) During all of the introductory, breeding, and post-breeding activities, treat the females gently. Startled or frightened animals are likely to experience lower productivity.

10) Keep good records. Record a minimum of the following items so confusion will not occur later: breeding date, number of services, boar or semen source, the person who observed or conducted the breeding (PennStateExtension, 2021), (Yesca, R., 2021).

Artificial insemination to p26

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With the depths of culture that have transcended over many generations, women were long before barely given the podium to be at the superior level of leadership endeavors. As numerous movements have emerged and supported women empowerment however, this perspective has gradually changed over time.

Withstanding the countless adversities and challenges being experienced day by day, the fisherfolk of Barangay Taboc, Libertad, Antique relentlessly toil to earn a living.

Having seen the everyday struggles but conversely the potential to prosper the fishing industry in their town, Riza D. Sioco took hold of the responsibility to shape the group of dedicated individuals as she is serving as the President of Taboc Fisherfolks Association (TAFA) since 2018 up to present.

The association is a beneficiary of the Lambaklad Livelihood Project under the Department of AgriculturePhilippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP). Recognizing her efforts and courage to be at the forefront of the association, Riza stands with resilience as she executes her functions as a woman leader.

TAFA is a fisherfolk-based association that was first organized on August 2013. Starting off with meager resources, they can hardly keep the association moving. Further challenged with Typhoon Yolanda that cut their hopes with the destruction of their personally-owned pumpboats and nets, the group was then struggling to find their source of living after the calamity. Fortunately, 24

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with the assistance provided by the DA-PRDP and the Provincial Local Government of Antique alongside the association counterpart, the Lambaklad Livelihood Project amounting to Php 999,950.00 had been instrumental to address the situation.

“I started as a member of TAFA when I was then a Barangay Kagawad in the year 2013, the same year when it was organized. I was elected as secretary of the association and this motivated me to extend more help though it has nothing much yet. Despite I knew for a fact that this will take a lot of my time, I pursued to process the needed documents and register our association to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),” said Sioco.

Apart from investing her time in processing the needed documents for the development of the association, her passion to serve and hope to better the condition of the fisherfolk in Libertad, Antique fueled her to continue the daily undertakings of TAFA. “From the start, I believe that this opportunity from DA-PRDP will be beneficial for the people of Taboc since fishing is our primary livelihood.

While TAFA is just starting, the pumpboats and nets were destroyed due to Typhoon Yolanda, reason why my heart goes to the townsfolk all these years up until today and I put most of my time to the association,” added Sioco.

With her experience in managing the

TAFA which is the lead proponent group of the DA-PRDP subproject, she gained knowledge and skills that guided her in handling the association. She had attended several organizational and skills training in relation to the project implementation and also facilitated and submitted numerous proposals to the DA-PRDP RPCO 6. Moreover, she maintained good standing status with the PLGU by ensuring on-time payment of loan incurred for the Lambaklad operation.

I must say, all of the trainings that I attended have helped me a lot in managing our association. Being a farmer leader and being present in various workshops, it was advantageous as I have applied all of my learnings to be able to manage our association and to lift up the TAFA. - RIZA D. SIOCO PRESIDENT, TAFA Putting much effort and dedication towards the improvement of the association particularly in the field of fishery through the Lambaklad project granted by the DA-PRDP, Riza also personally owned and co-managed Fish Coral or “taba” in the local dialect, and Oyster Culture Project located in Barangay Ipil, Batan, Aklan to support her family’s daily needs as well as to generate

employment of fisherfolk. This initiative was founded by Small Business Corporation under the loan program in the amount of Php 50,000.00 last June 2021.

With her efficient management of the association, the fisherfolk were reaping the fruits of their labor as they got tons of fish catch presently.

This served as an instrument for them to become a recipient of trading capital assistance under the DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division 6 through its Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita Program. There were six various provisions given to the enterprise last November 5, 2021 with total amount of Php 332,109.20 for its Talipapa Livelihood Project and started the operation on December 5, 2021. The financial support was utilized in the procurement of poultry, meat, fish, and vegetables that they sell in their stall.

With all the big hats she is wearing as a female leader, she also imparted the most difficult part of the endeavor.

“The biggest challenge of leading a group are the

misunderstandings, which I believe we mostly experience, if not all. But good enough, we were able to resolve these by calling the attention of those who have concerns and address them through our meetings. I never get tired and I always hold on to the idea that what I am doing is for the benefit of everyone,” said Sioco.

With this positive mindset that she exudes and the significant contributions she had in the advancement of the fishery sector, she was recently recognized as one of the Outstanding Fisherfolk by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and was featured in Babaye, Ka-Agri of the DA. “This National Women’s Month, especially to my fellow

woman leaders, let us continue to serve and guide our members to consistently participate, always trust to God, and trust on your capacity to lead with passion and understanding,” she said.

Indeed, Riza only exhibits the true supremacy of women leadership that amidst the setbacks and the challenges, women are capable of prompting change, build resilience, and rise above all especially in the field of agriculture and fishery.- APRIL GRACE R. PADILLA

JUMP STORIES LGU Leon, ISAT-U from p11

seed and variety selection, land preparation to water and irrigation management, as well as using the IPM and disease management, harvest and post-harvest operation were maximized by the students into action in their home base and communities.

"I wanted my students to be resilient in this difficult situation we are facing today. The pandemic is not a hindrance for them, lest to be more creative, hardworking and goaloriented youth in agriculture who can contribute to their families and the community and economy in the future," relayed Casido.

I wanted to inculcate to my students that the learnings in the classroom should be applied in the field, like proper field management and practices in the production of cereals and integration of the application and principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) as well as to let them familiarize and understand the different pest and diseases in the locality, Casido explained.

Agta, Leon, said almost 22 bags of rice were harvested this January as part of the group effort in this community base school activity.

"We reap the fruit of our labor. As a group, we struggled and were challenged by this pandemic's difficulties, but we started in small steps to counterattack the hurdles.

Perseverance and constant learning and making it into reality bring hope to us. It brought tears of joy to my eyes seeing my family have enough food on the table."

Eleven student members worked with him in the field from land preparation, tilling, plowing, setting the irrigation, and the basic technology they had learned in schools such as IPM and INM. Aside from rice and corn, they allotted a small parcel of the lot for eggplant production, which suffice their daily food needs.

DA Western Visayas recently turned over one multiplier farm to the ISATU-Leon campus, wherein native swine, goat, and chicken were given for upgrading under the DA National Livestock Program (NLP).

Melchor Callada Jr.,22, of Barangay

"The LGU of Leon, through the Municipal Agriculture Office, strongly encourages the youth sector's involvement in agriculture as they are at the forefront of our economy, leading to food sufficiency.

We also thank and commend the efforts of ISAT-U faculty and staff headed by Julito Aligaen, a school administrator who takes the initiative to mold the youth to become future agriculturists," mentioned Ryan Caldito, agricultural technician of the municipality of Leon.

The farmer's information technology center in the municipal agriculture office is also open for technical research for the out-of-school youth and farmers' children who would like to learn to farm. He added that the MAO also provides technical assistance for agriculture and related courses. ISAT University - Leon Campus, with its aim to provide human resource development to the youth by establishing tangible materials used as an instruction to enhance the scientific skills of the students and basic knowledge in agriculture, proudly inspire other youth sectors to develop provisions for the young generation. - JOAN N. CAPACIETE

Eggciting story from p21

School on air from p10

Artificial insemination from p23

eggs at Php 210, and jumbo eggs at Php 230.

Cadiz City, Leonardo Gubat of Brgy.

Puey, Sagay City, and Arnulfo Lapastura of Brgy.

Manlucahoc, Sipalay City.

Romeo testifies that DA ROS technicians eventually became his good friends, “Sa kada magpanawag ako sa ila [DA technician] agud nga lantawon ang akon mga sapat kung pwede o indi, wala gid sila sang reklamo, insigida nagakadto gid sila diri.”

BBCFA envisions their group as the top producer of eggs not just in their barangay but in the municipality of Toboso and even in neighboring towns.

They are looking forward to expanding their production by procuring RTL pullets to replace the older hens. They are likewise planning to sell their chicken dung as fertilizers to residents practicing backyard gardening.

To intensify the positive and consistent outcome of their livelihood project, the association plans to establish a poultry store where they could trade chicken feeds and other poultry supplies. - CHRIST JOHN B. GAMARCHA

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Moreover, the Aluyan Caduha-an Farmers Association in Cadiz City and Manara Puey Irrigators' Association in Sagay City received granular applicators from the DA Western Visayas' Rice Program. This gasolinepowered engine with a 26-liter tank capacity is used to precisely distribute seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides.

The first season of SOA-SRA in Negros Occidental was facilitated and anchored by Provincial Coordinator Dr. Mary Ann Ordinario and Provincial Farmcaster Lucilla Perartilla. Another season is set to begin in May, targeting more enrollees provincewide.- SHEILA MAE H. TORENO

The Return On Investment Starting with one sow, Romeo is now reaping the unstoppable blessings that came in since he embraced the technology of AI to improve his piglet production. The first raised sow gave birth to seven piglets. Five were raised for fattening, and the remaining two were raised as sows.

These sows produced 10 and 15 piglets. In December 2021, he was able to sell 10 gilts, where he earned 36,000 pesos. His sow continuously reproduced because of the help of the AI technology of DA ROS. On average, his sow is giving birth to not less than five piglets. These piglets are healthy and agile. This journey has

IBON MPC from p17

Pong added that the cooperative maintains a 'Baboyang Walang Amoy' project alongside broiler egg production, native chicken, and goat production livelihood out of their income from rice milling and projects from DA. DA's Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation (F2C2) and Livestock Programs distributed 90 breeder goats to 15 cooperative members, wherein each farmer received six upgraded goats and forage materials. With technical assistance from DA, IBON MPC, and Aklan Provincial Veterinary Office, recipient farmers mean to sustain their goat raising project so other coop members can likewise get rollover animal stocks to multiply and expand.

DA taps IBON MPC as the Big Brother in the pilot implementation of the Bayanihan Agri Cluster (F2C2) Program in Aklan. In recent years, the government has realigned the distribution of interventions from individuals and groups to a clustered community of farmers. The 18-yearold IBON MPC cascades the wide range of opportunities from DA been life-changing for him.

“Sa akon eksperyensya ya, tungod sa bulig ninyo, ang baboy ko sang una, gin umpisahan ko isa palang, kag nagbuto na. Primero nya pito, ginfattening kag ang duha ginhimo nga nayun. Kag ang ikaduha nya [baboy] pagbuto, madamo naman.

Sang last December, nakabaligya na ko, ang napulo ko nga lelechonun daw ara sa 36,000 pesos. Tapos ang sunod nya nga buto, napulo kag kense. May ara man ako isa [nayun] lima lang iya bata pero kanami nami sang iya mga buto,” said Romeo in a very jolly expression.

On the day that his youngest son got married, his hogs helped them significantly. He was able to sell seven pigs, and another two were prepared for the menu during this significant occasion. His help to his son's wedding has been fulfilling and a dream come true for a parent like him. Romeo and his entire family have become role models because of their faith, determination, and

and other government offices to its constituents and other smaller organizations in Aklan to help stabilize the agriculture value chain toward developed and sustainable rural communities.

DA Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter commended the worthy contributions of the cooperative to the economic upheaval in the farming and agribusiness sector in Numancia and the entire Province of Aklan.

"They started from a small group of farmers, and now they turned into a big cooperative and a constant partner of DA in disseminating technology and implementing varied support to coop members and non-members. From the P4,800.00 starting capital, the IBON-MPC has more than P 180-million assets," said Recoter.

Pong relayed that the DA-Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) gave a national citation to IBON MPC as an outstanding lending conduit for the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program. At the same time, the CDA recognized them for their environmental protection efforts. perseverance to make their dreams come true.

Famers’ Fulfillment More than improving his venture in the swine industry through AI, Romeo was able to send his kids to college.

His wife Nelly has been so proud of his efforts for their family. Now, his children are all professionals and are giving back to the family. They promise to be forever grateful for the blessings brought by the DA ROS artificial insemination program to their hogs and swine products.

“May duha ako ka bata, puro naman estado. Pagkasal gani sinang agot ko, ang pito nga gin ihaw ko, buto na ina sang akon nga mga baboy. Amu na kanami sang mga grasya gikan sa DA. May duha man ako ka apo, kag ang akon asawa amu na ang masami nga nabilin sa balay. Ang mahambal ko sa mga kaupod natun nga may handom man nga magsagud sang baboy, indi kamo magduhaduha nga magpalapit sa DA, bangud nga ang bulig sang gobyerno hilabi nagig ang ila mga

IBON MPC General Manager Arnulfo and Chairperson Stineli F. Barrios are both members of Aklan Provincial Agriculture and Fishery Council (PAFC), thus, contributory to the crafting and passing of resolutions and policies promoting the well-fare of the sector.

The apparent favorable outcomes of the cooperative's hard toil, persistence, and resourcefulness aspire them to spur growth in Aklan and other provinces in Region 6.

Being receptive to government assistance, the IBON MPC is bound to benefit from pipeline projects, including a hydroponic vegetable farm, construction of an additional warehouse with an office, and upgrading their rice milling facilities.

Reaffirming the universal philosophy of People Helping People, the IBON MPC strives to cater to the varied needs of its members and, at the same time, efficiently manages the resources and support they availed from the government so more farmers can reap the benefits. SHEILA MAE H. TORENO

empleyado, wala ya naga pakulahaw sa pagbulig sa tawo. Gan inga ang resulta, maayo sa pumuluyo,” he added.

Romeo remains to manage as a farmer-breeder and continues to sell the products of his sows. He became an advocate for his neighbors and friends to emulate the AI program of DA for their hogs and swine business.

One important takeaway for him is to never doubt the help of the government. Agricultural technicians will always be available to help breeders like him with knowledge and technology transfer. Now, he serves as a role model influencing the community to start their AI experience and enjoy its excellent results. - MARIA CORAZON M. BUALA

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