YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN BOOSTING ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN THE REGION

YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN BOOSTING ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN THE REGION

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Philippine population is expected to reach 142 million by 2045, in accordance with 2010 Census-based population projections. As the nation's population increases, so does the demand for food production, this is precisely why learning about agriculture is so significant. This allows future generations to have a thorough understanding of where the food they consume comes from, and a greater number of people might be motivated to work in the agricultural sector in order to meet the demands of a rising population.

In regard to this, one of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) initiatives is to offer scholarships to encourage younger individuals into agriculture in order to educate and develop younger " agri-preneurs"  to support and take over aging farm leaders, provide assistance in achieving food security, and acquire more technical specialists and stakeholders to strengthen the agriculture industry.

In support of this goal, the DA-Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) CALABARZON, led by the Training Center Superintendent II Dr. Rolando V. Maningas, held the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the "Youth Scholarship Grant on Organic Farming" for the eleven (11) Trainees/Grantees and five (5) accredited Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) farm partners last March 30, 2023, at 4-Hub, DA-ATI CALABARZON Compound, Trece Martires City, Cavite.

Aside from offering start-up support as well as mentoring for the execution of their business plan, it is a highly concentrated internship program crafted to instill in trainees an interest and willingness for organic agriculture, which they will eventually use as a source of income. The 21-month activity includes nine (9) months of learning and actual training at LSA farm partners and one (1) year of practical experience and application of the proposed organic enterprise. The deployment of scholars officially started last March 30 and will end on December 2024.

Accordingly, Dr. Maningas held a series of intern monitoring sessions so that he could personally inspect the site's setup as well as the actual status and progress of the trainees to ensure that they were properly performing their assigned duties and responsibilities on the designated farms. Dr. Maningas paid a visit to Yumi's Farm in Tayabas, Quezon, and Costales Nature Farm in Majayjay, Laguna, last August 9, 2023. He then went to Luntiang Republika Ecofarms in Alfonso, Cavite, last August 22, 2023, and Sweet Nature Farms in Sta. Maria, Laguna, and Mariwska Integrated Farm in Antipolo, Rizal, last August 24, 2023.

Since this is the first local internship under Organic Agriculture Program, Dr. Maningas challenged the interns to take advantage of and maximize the available technologies to enable them to explore and experiment with other practices to further preserve or optimize the existing organic procedures. This is also an opportunity for the Center Director to share his knowledge and experiences with the trainees and, at the same time, with the farm owners to inspire and motivate them to become more involved in organic agriculture.

To boost their desire and interest, DA-ATI CALABARZON will continue to provide invaluable assistance and capacity-building programs to make agriculture not only an effective, stable source of livelihood but, more importantly, to make agriculture their lifelong passion and profession.