Mon, 10/24/2022 - 14:50

In response to the urgent need to scale cutting-edge technologies while aiming for Philippine agriculture modernization and competitiveness, the Agricultural Training Institute in Central Visayas (ATI-CV) conducted the School-on-the-Air on Smart Rice Agriculture (SOA-SRA) via radio broadcast over Radyo Bandera Sweet FM 106.9 every Monday to Friday at 5:30-6:00 PM which started on September 26, 2022, until October 21, 2022.

In the province of Negros Oriental, 3,000 farmers now have access to innovative agricultural technologies that could increase their output.

The SOA-SRA, branded as "Palay Aralan: Makabagong Pagsasaka sa Himpapawid," had the sole intent of aiding in the development of agricultural modernization by educating smallholder farmers and regional middlemen on cutting-edge and creative methods and smart technology for producing rice. Additionally, radio helps in amplifying information to reach areas that are restricted to agricultural extension personnel.

In partnerships with the Department of Agriculture (DA) -Central Visayas, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Negros Oriental State University (NORSU), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Provincial Agriculture Office, City Agriculture Office, Local Government Units (LGU) of the City of Bayawan and Santa Catalina, the program was able to produce 3,000 graduates.

To monitor the listenership of the enrollees, the program administered short quizzes, long exams, and final exams to determine the level of knowledge gained among the SOA-SRA students. Based on the total score or percentage of the said exams, the top ten students were selected in each municipality and were given medals and awards during the culmination activity.

A total of 40 episodes were aired for the program with the following individuals as the resource persons: (1) Francis S. Yaeso, Senior Agriculturist of LGU-Bayawan City; (2) Romely H. Alson, Admin Aide IV of LGU-Bayawan City; (3) Jorge F. Trinidad, Training Specialist II of ATI-CV; and (4) Merrian Piquero Soliva, PhD, Media Production Specialist II of ATI-CV. 
 

article-seo
bad