BALATAN, Camarines Sur — The Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center V (ATI Bicol) monitored the Digital Farmers Program (DFP) Farmer-Level Training entitled “Let’s Go Digital: DFP for Farmers and Youth” on August 6-8, 2024 at Balatan, Camarines Sur. It was conducted by the Municipal Agriculture Office of Balatan and spearheaded by Mary Grace T. Morillo, Agricultural Technologist and graduate of DFP training conducted by ATI Bicol on May 2023.

Other DFP graduates from various municipalities, namely Rosela A. Parma, John Philip P. Tanay and Marie Antonette D. Bravo, also served as resource persons. They discussed DFP 101 and 102 topics: Smartphone 101; Internet Access and Safety; Social Media Marketing; Basic Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Tools; Advanced Agricultural Applications; eCommerce and online transactions.

DFP Focal Person Christian T.R. Tosoc shared the importance of data in making farming decisions and emphasized the role of the youth in the program. He also discussed the different components of the program namely DFP Farm Learn, DFP Farm Tech Package, DFP Farm Connect and DFP Farm Seal.

In addition, Information Services Section Chief Primalou B. Imperial encouraged the participants to adopt the agricultural technologies that can help their farming practices.

The monitoring aimed to assess the DFP graduates in implementing the DFP in their respective municipalities/communities.