WESTERN VISAYAS – ATI Region 6 recognized eight project proposals as Best Business Plans by granting a one hundred-thousand-peso grant this 2023. Five of the proposals were outputs of the Training on Farm Business Management held last September 5-9, 2022, and the other three are products of the Workshop on Business Plan Preparation held last October 17-21, 2022.
The recipients include Jerry Y. Ituriaga of Aklan Mushroom Society and his project “Oyster Mushroom Production and Processing”; Salvacion C. Antaran of Aklan Mushroom Society and her project, “Expansion Project for Oyster Mushroom Production and Processing”; Alvin A. Barrios, Jr. of Barrios Fruits and Vegetables Integrated Farm and his project, “Farm Facility Improvements and Expansion of Production Area”; Edgar Rebaño, Learning Site Cooperator of La Felicidad Granja, and his project “Establishment of African Hito Hatchery and Rearing Pond”; Lalain B. Ambion from Bubbles Integrated Farm with her project, “ CucuManci Juice Processing”; Dia Mae N. Corneja of Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office VI with her project, “Production of Insulin Plant Juice”; Lykeen L. Salmoro of LGU-Dingle, Iloilo and her project, “Alegria Bamboo Crafts”; and Roline D. Tamayo from LGU-Zarraga, Iloilo and his project, “TUPALIFIA as a Farm Service Provider”.
The grants were awarded on multiple occasions from January 9-24, 2023.
“This is a great opportunity for our association to start an income-generating project out of what is abundant in our place, bamboo. We will do our very best to sustain this project as this is a great help for our Association, our members, our family, and for our children’s future. This won’t be possible without the support of our Municipal Agriculture Office, LGU-Dingle, DTI, and ATI RTC VI. We Alegria IFA are beyond blessed,” expressed Hermenerico B. Miro, President of Alegria Integrated Farmers Association.
The Training on Farm Business Management is designed to educate farm owners, operators, and Agricultural Extension Workers (AEWs) in farming as a business. The said training was attended by twenty-four (24) Learning Site Cooperators, farm owners and managers and some Swine Multiplier Project recipients. The Training Workshop on Business Plan Preparation, on the other hand, aimed to enhance and strengthen the knowledge and skills of Agricultural Extension Workers (AEW) on business plan preparation which will enable them to train farmers and members of farmer associations in their areas to become successful agripreneurs. The workshop was attended by twenty-nine (29) AEWs from all over the region.
The training and workshop were made possible through the help of Resource Person Reden Mark F. Costales, owner of Costales Nature Farms.
The projects are under implementation as of this writing.
