SILANG, Cavite -- Another batch of young farmers got a glimpse of smart farming prior to their internship in Japan.
The group, composed of 23 young farmers from across the country, is preparing for their 11-month on-site learning on modern techniques, approaches, and marketing strategies in smart farming with the Japanese farming family. As part of their Pre-Departure Orientation Course, the young farmers are being exposed to the modern technologies, which they can learn and adopt in their own farms upon their return to the country.
Last March 10-12, 2025, the young farmers were brought to Gourmet Farms, Inc. in Silang, Cavite for their three-day training on smart farming. They were welcomed by its owner, Eugine C. Jimenez, who urged the participants to give their best as a representative of their respective regions. She said “Not all young Filipinos had a chance to join this kind of program of ATI. You should always be grateful for the opportunity."
Jimenez also added that this training is a way of improving the country’s agriculture enterprise and hoping that the participants can share their learnings in their respective communities.
Likewise, Michael S. Caballes, owner of Bukid Amara Farm in Lucban, Quezon discussed the key importance in smart farming from the site selection to the management of greenhouse. In turn, the interns presented their ideas of Smart Farming Layout based on what they learned from the training.
Afterwhich, the young farmer interns held their hands-on activity at the Turbulent Greenhouse located at Orchard Drive in Tagaytay City. Engr. Jose Emie S. Siojo, owner of the Turbulent Greenhouse, inspired the interns by sharing the importance of Smart Farming with the use of an automatic greenhouse. He encouraged the interns to share their learnings once they completed their course in Japan as a way of pay back to their community.
Another resource peson, Lady Lee V. Alcala, discussed the importance of calculating drip irrigation flow rate and pest and diseases management. The interns were also exposed to actual pest and diseases diagnoses in tomatoes and bellpeppers inside the green house. Alcala gave a hands-on activity on nursery from preparation of the media to planting of the seedlings.
At the end of their training, Senior Agriculturist Nemeilyn P. Pangilinan of Agricultural Training Institute emphasized the importance of the 4-H motto - the head, heart, hands and health - during their internship journey in Japan. She encouraged the interns to always be grateful for the opportunity and bring back all the possible learning that they can get in Japan to help improve the agriculture sector in the Philippines.
