SURIGAO CITY- Twenty-three participants comprising Agricultural Extension Workers and Cooperators and staff from the Learning Site for Agriculture Farms were trained on Digital Agriculture Course on June 8-10, 2022. This is through the Training of Trainers (TOT) which was conducted by the Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center (ATI-RTC) 13 in Surigao City.

Participants were able to learn the components of the Digital Agriculture Course (DAC) which covers the lessons from DAC 101 and 102. They were able to learn the basic and advanced agriculture applications, introduction and advanced social media marketing, e-commerce platforms and digital transactions.

As trainers, LSA staff and AEWs were taught on the basics of smartphone and how to discuss those topics to the farmers and youth when they conduct training on DAC 101 and 102 someday. Protocols on internet safety as well as accessing the internet was also discussed during the training.

Ginalyn V. Arbutante, Information Officer II, Jason Paul Dads E. Jampac, MPS II, Maria Den Parrro, Ag. I and John Paul Abonitalla, Technical Staff served as Resource Persons during the 3-day training. Simulation session was done during the last day of the training. This is to know whether the trained participants are ready for the field wherein they will train the farmers and youths regarding the benefits of the Digital Agriculture Course.

Moreover, Re-entry Plans, Facebook Pages, Social Media Marketing Plans, PayMaya Accounts and Dream Boards are the outputs of the TOT. It was also agreed that each participant will send a microteaching video five days after the training. The said video will cover the topics on the Digital Agriculture Course 101 and 102.

“First of all, I already imagine how heavy our responsibility is to the farmers in terms of sharing the knowledge and letting them adopt the updated agricultural technologies through the Digital Agriculture Course for RCEF. But through this Training of Trainers, it really helps us Learning Site Cooperators in teaching our farmers in improving their farming productivity and income. We, as LSA Cooperators and Staff still need support from ATI and other government agencies for the success of all our endeavor.” Stated Manuelito C. Suan, one of the participants during the training.

The Training of Trainers on Digital Agriculture Course under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) was spearheaded by the Information Services Section (ISS) of the ATI-RTC 13.