Digital technology paved the way in the enhancement of farming as the Agricultural Training Institute – Central Luzon (ATI-CL) conducted the 1st Farmer-Level Rollout of Digital Farmers Program (DFP) among the twenty farmer-youth tandems of Guimba, Nueva Ecija in partnership with Myriad Farms Agri-Business Skills Training and Assessment Center, Inc. on August 17-19, 2022.
The three-day training revolved around the use of smartphones as a supplementary tool in farming practices using different apps such as area measurement, weather, pest and disease identification, and social media marketing for the products and services.
“Natutuwa po ako at nadagdagan ang aking kaalaman, hindi lang sa pagsasaka kundi sa larangan ng digital technology. Ako po ay natutuwa at mayroon akong muling maibabahagi sa aking mga kasamahan lalo na po sa mga magsasaka ng Brgy. Manacsac at sa mga miyembro ng Guimba-Licab Irrigators Association. So inaasahan ko po na mas mapaparating sa kanila at maencourage sila na gumamit ng mga advance na teknolohiya gaya ng mga makinarya,” said Mr. Bryan H. Cabiao, a participant from Brgy. Manacsac.
The goal of the activity is to immerse the tenured farmers with the aid of their youth counterparts in navigating the different applications and exploring online products and services through the use of social media.
“Ngayon ko lang nalaman ang hands-on sa smartphone, sa edad kong ito, bibihira ang nakakaalam sa paggamit. Ginagamit lang kasi ang cellphone sa Facebook at Youtube, pero nagamit din ngayon sa pagsasaka. Marami akong natutunan sa training na ito,” said Mr. Celso G. Magbitang, a participant from Brgy. Narvacan I.
Ms. Frianina V. Resplandor, farm co-owner, and Mr. Romer P. Nuno, farm trainer, from Myriad Farms served as the resource persons in the event with the knowledge and skill acquired from the training of trainers conducted by ATI-CL in April this year.
Through DFP, the digitalization of farming systems will be achieved which can highly contribute to increasing food production, and subsequently, food sufficiency can be attained. A total of seven (7) batches of DFP will be rolled out in the provinces in Central Luzon this year.
