Capitol Intensifies Program for Farmers Province-Wide

It is a solid start for the Provincial Government as it gears up for the implementation and continuation of key projects set for 2018, including the food security program for farmers province-wide.

For January this year, around 700 farmers across Cebu province graduated from the Farmer Scientists’ Research, Development and Extension Training Program (FSTP). The graduates hail from the towns of Compostela, Carmen, Tuburan, Oslob, Alcoy, Dumanjug, Moalboal, Badian, Ginatilan and the city of Danao.

Last year, a total of 2,426 farmer-scientists in the province graduated. Out of the said number, 1,346 completed Phase 3, which qualifies the farmer-scientist to teach fellow farmers on how to increase their yield.

In the first phase, farmers are exposed to research while the second phase allows the farmers to determine which production technologies are adoptable in their farms.

“Musugot diay mo nga magsalig ta sa atong pagkaon sa laing nasud? Padayon nga nag-evolve ron ang atong teknolohiya ug kailangan lang ni nato sabayan aron kita mas mulambo pa (We can’t just rely our food supplies from other countries. Our technology is continuously innovating and we just need to go with it in order to achieve progress),” said Provincial Agriculturist Dr. Roldan Saragena.

Dr. Saragena also assured that the Capitol will continue to support the farmers, which is why his office has an allotted P40 million budget for the said program this year.

For Santiago Dasillo, the lone Phase 3 graduate in Badian, his FSTP completion is just the start.

“52 anyos nako pero ako mala-umon gihapon nga maka-tudlo gihapon ko sa akong mga kaubanan (I am now at the age of 52 but I will still continue sharing my learnings to my fellow farmers),” Dasillo said.

Dasillo’s daughter was also present during the simple ceremony held at the Badian covered court, to receive her mother’s certificate of completion. Mrs. Dasillo recently died in August.

More than just planting and growing crop, the project aims to boost the morale of the farmers and realize that their efforts are vital in putting food on the table.

“Truly, farmers are the heroes of our lands. Let us therefore recognize them with honor and dignity and support them to achieve their long desired abundant productivity,” said Dr. Romulo Davide, Capitol consultant for agriculture.

The FSTP is part of Governor Hilario P. Davide III’s six-key development agenda, specifically under countryside development.

www.cebu.gov.ph