Reden Mark F. Costales, the owner of Costales Nature Farm, serves as Resource Person of Farm Business Management Training.
BANGA, Aklan – In response to the recent challenges that the pandemic has brought, and under the “OneDA Reform Agenda” by the Department of Agriculture as an approach to increase productivity and profitability of farming and fishery activities, ATI Region 6 conducted the Training on Farm Business Management last September 5-9, 2022, at 4-H Learning Hub, ASU Compound.
Twenty-four Learning Site Cooperators, Farm Owners and Managers, and some Swine Multiplier project recipients attended the training. The training course is designed to provide education to farm owners and operators and stakeholders that are interested in farming as a business.
During the opening program, Mary Ann A. Ramos, ATI Region 6’s Officer-in-Charge, encouraged the participants to maximize the opportunities provided for them. Ramos also explained that the course was originally targeted at Agricultural Extension Workers, however, upon assessment, it was concluded that this training will be more useful to agripreneurs. She further emphasized the significance of a comprehensive Farm Business Plan as an output of the activity.
The Resource Person, Reden Mark F. Costales, the owner of Costales Nature Farm, discussed the following topics: The Agricultural Industry Landscape; Production Management; Financial Management; Marketing Management; Human Resource and Operations Management; Record Keeping; Business Plan Development; and Writing of Farm Business Plan. A series of workshops were also done on every topic discussed. Participants were required to prepare and present their draft Business Plans before the end of the training.
“This is the training that I am very thankful for because I just started to venture into a farm business and I needed the formal knowledge on how to manage the business. This training taught me a lot. I also had this realization that we have nothing to be ashamed of in the practice of farming. We need farming to meet daily needs. We also gave to make sure that our farms are sustainable,” expressed Grace S. Ruiz, Farm Administrator/LS Cooperator of GLS Integrated Farm during the Closing Program.
To further motivate the participants, five Best Business Plans were recognized. These were drafted by the following: Alvin A. Barrios, Jr., Salvacion C. Antaran, Jerry Y. Ituriaga, Edgar R. Rebaño, and Lalain B. Ambion. They were also required to prepare Project Proposals, which if deemed feasible for implementation, may be funded by ATI.
Furthermore, all 24 participants were awarded one unit of digital weighing scale and record book as part of the program's after-training support.
