Leaders create impact on the members of a certain group or community. In the agriculture setting, enhancing these leaders can pave the way for the improvement of agriculture especially to the underdeveloped areas.

On February 21, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) XII conducted a training on nutrient management technologies for rice production using available materials for rice farmer leaders in North Cotabato.

The 3-day training aimed to inform leaders of the current scenario of the Philippine Rice Industry, instill importance of the PalayCheck system in rice farming, appreciate biocontrol agents in soil enhancing, use rice crop manager for fertilizer recommendation generation, and ferment and implement various organic concoctions and fertilizer.

Aside from theories, the 20 rice farmer-leaders from Kabacan had actual demonstrations in the preparation of organic concoctions as part of the module. A field visit to Deo’s Farm, an accredited learning site of ATI XII that shared their best practices in the production of vermicasts using African Night Crawlers was also part of experiential learning.

The training venue was held at ATI XII, Satellite Training Center, USM Compound, Kabacan, Cotabato and concluded on February 23, 2023 with all participants successfully satisfying all requirements and are equipped with learnings in order for them to pass it on to their co-farmers in their community.