DA program to teach agri-students on farm machine operation
AGRICULTURE • 16:45 PM Mon Oct 9, 2017
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By:
Carl Ulysses Aguillon/DA-RAFIS XII
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol with students of the University of Southern Mindanao during his most recent Biyaheng Bukid,.
KABACAN, North
Cotabato - The Department of Agriculture (DA) is now bridging its advocacies and
programs to the youth.
In his
Biyaheng Bukid here, specifically at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM),
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol announced a new program that will
stimulate the interest of the Filipino youth to agriculture.
The DA will
partner with state universities and colleges in the country which offer
agricultural engineering and include in their curriculum the proper handling
and operation of farm machines, the agri chief pointed out.
Piñol
said that through this program, farm mechanization program will be intensified
since more experts produced by these universities will efficiently teach
farmers of the proper utilization of the equipment given by the government.
We have a lot
of agriculture (engineering) graduates who don’t even know how to drive a farm
tractor… For this program, my Alma Mater (USM) will be the pilot school, he
added.
In line with
this partnership, the university initially received a corn picker and rice
trans-planter.
Piñol
also brought excitement to USM community as he disclosed that the DA will allot
30 slots for deserving and graduating agriculture students of the institution
who will undergo training and exposure to Japan to learn new technologies.
In addition,
the official said that the DA is open to accept and fund thesis proposals
sponsored by agriculture students but they must secure that the study will
surely benefit the farming communities.
As part of his
visit, Secretary Piñol once again turned-over millions of farm machines and
various projects to local government units (LGUs) and farmer groups worth P70-M.
These
interventions and projects are proofs that this government delivers, fast,
Sec. Piñol said.
Included in
these interventions were farm machines under the banner programs of the DA
(Rice, Corn, and High Value Crops).
The Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, meanwhile, dished out tilapia and hito
fingerlings to fishermen in identified fishing communities along with motorized
and non-motorized bancas.
A private company,
Yanmar, also turned-over to DA six rice combine harvesters as part of their
support to farm mechanization program during the day and these were given to
deserving and qualified farmer groups in the province.