BAYBAY CITY, Leyte - In partnership with the Manila Bulletin’s Agriculture Magazine, Smart Communications, Inc., ATI in Eastern Visayas conducted its first AgriTalk for the year 2022. The one-day online activity aimed to introduce different agriculture technologies among different stakeholders. For this year’s Agritalk, the center focused on drip irrigation.
It is said that drip irrigation is the most efficient water and nutrient delivery system for growing crops as it delivers water and nutrients directly to the plant’s root zone at the right amount and at the right time. This system is already practiced by one of ATI-RTC 8’s certified Learning Sites for Agriculture, the CALCOA.
As stated by Ms. Concepcion Miro as she opened the activity, water is an important factor when it comes to production. “We need to protect our watersheds, conserve water, use water efficiently, and practice water management in agriculture through drip irrigation,” she concluded.
Mr. Dhenber Lusanta, the OIC-Director of VSU Eco-FARMI, discussed about the water uptake by plants and how water affects plant yield and quality. He also discussed the different types of irrigation while highlighting drip irrigation being the most efficient among others.
Being one of the individuals who guided CALCOA in applying drip irrigation on their farm, Mr. Rodel Morales, an Agronomist and Science Research Assistant of ACIAR-GAP, discussed the basics of drip irrigation, focusing on how the system works and the structures and materials that make the system. A video presentation of an ATIng Mugna video about Drip Irrigation installation was also premiered during the activity. There, farmers from CALCOA demonstrated a step-by-step process on how to prepare drip lines in protected structures for vegetables.
Around two hundred (200) online participants participated in this year’s Eastern Visayas Agritalk. Some actively joined the quizzes and even won during the online raffle. Participants were not limited to Eastern Visayas residents as viewers coming from Sorsogon, Negros Occidental, Davao de Oro, Isabela, Pampanga, Zambales, among others, attended the online event.
Closing the program, ATI-RTC 8 Assistant Center Director, Mr. Dalmacio Pajanustan said, “We are so glad that we could provide worthwhile information about the drip irrigation system and help farmers become efficient in their vegetable production through this program.”
