SILANG, Cavite — A group of young farmers underwent extensive training on agricultural processing at Gourmet Farms, Inc., one of the accredited Extension Service Providers of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
Gourmet Farms Inc., founded by businessman Ernest Escaler, has been in the industry for many years. As ATI’s Extension Service Provider, the farm offers its services to help hasten the delivery of agriculture and fisheries extension programs. The recent training they provided was for the young farmer interns from across the Philippines preparing for their embarkation for the Filipino Young Farmers Internship Program in Taiwan (FYFIPT) in July this year.
Jeffrey G. Balde, Estate Manager of Gourmet Farms Inc., gave his remarks and encouraged the participation of the youth in the cause of uplifting the sector of agriculture and promoting advanced measures and techniques in farming. Relatively, Farm Manager Eugine C. Jimenez kicked off the training with a farm tour showcasing the state-of-the-art facilities and machines they acquired from other countries along with the products and commodities they produce on their farm.
The six-day training on agricultural processing or agriprocessing introduced and enabled the interns to practice modern techniques, approaches, and marketing strategies in agriculture to acquire crucial technical knowledge and skills. Some topics discussed were good agricultural practices, post-harvest practices in high-value crops, food engineering, food preservation, and high-value crop processing operations. The training was enjoined by esteemed members of the faculty from the Cavite State University, successful entrepreneurs, resource manager, and officers of the Gourmet Farms Inc.
As part of Gourmet Farms’ business and development, some of the firm's key officers demonstrated the coffee and salad processing. They emphasized the potential of coffee ventures and the situation of the coffee industry in the Philippines.
Gourmet Farms’ Director for Marketing Ginny De Villa, and Professor Guillermo P. Desenganio of Cavite State University elaborated the importance of farm planning and record keeping in business operations.
As part of their hands-on training, the young interns experienced the cleaning, grading, packaging, and preparation of food products of Gourmet Farm including the different varieties of lettuce, edible flowers, and vegetables, as well as farm operations such as planting, harvesting, and creation of vermicompost.
The training was held from June 23 to 28, 2024 in Silang, Cavite.
