The Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center 1 (ATI-RTC 1) continues to maximize the use of social media and other online platforms in disseminating agricultural technologies and practices through the conduct of the Agritalk - an online seminar that is designed to provide learning avenue for all types of the Institute’s clients.
Tied up with the Agriculture Magazine, Manila Bulletin, and the Smart Communications Inc., ATI-RTC 1 conducted the second batch of the Agritalk 2022 dubbed as, “Hataw Cacao! A Webinar Series on Cacao, Production, Processing, and Marketing”, on August 23-25, 2022 via facebook livestreaming and zoom application.
The three-day virtual activity was participated by 220 farmer leaders, small scale farmers, agricultural extension workers (AEWs), youth, and other individuals who are interested to learn opportunities that can be derived from cacao industry.
The first day of the seminar focused on the cacao situationer. Mr. David John Rondal, High Value Crops Development Program Coordinator of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 1, discussed the status of cacao industry in region 1. It was revealed that Ilocos Region contributes only 1% to the overall production in the Philippines and he implied that this is a good indicator of opportunities in increasing the produce towards established market demand.
Meanwhile, Mr. David Santos, Chief Executive Officer of the Ka Tribu ug ang Lasang Foundation, shared his expertise on cacao production techniques on the second day. He cited different production technologies and best practices that can be adopted by the participants as they set themselves in growing cacao.
Processing of chocolates and tablea was the highlights of the last day of the webinar. Ms. Rosario A. Chua, Chairperson of the Cacao Growers Cooperative in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan-a certified Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) of ATI-RTC 1, served her knowledge and skills to the participants. She shared the best practices of their cooperative on cacao processing and marketing.
A video presentation was also played demonstrating the step-by-step procedure of processing and packaging of tablea and chocolates. Meanwhile, during the live discussion via virtual, Ms. Chua gave additional insights and positively responded to the clarifications and concerns of the participants.
The Agritalk activity of ATI shows its modern way of disseminating agricultural technologies and best practices to its clients. Hence, the Institute will continue to unfold learning opportunities to bring the gap on technical know-how closer.
