School-on-air boosts 1,900 Negrense farmers

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NEGROS. Some of the farmer-graduates of the School-On-Air on Smart Rice Agriculture Technologies program of the Department of Agriculture during the Provincial Mass Graduation and Awarding Program held at Nature's Village in Talisay City on February 17. (Contributed photo)

NEGROS. A number of the farmer-graduates of the Faculty-On-Air on Sensible Rice Agriculture Applied sciences program of the Division of Agriculture in the course of the Provincial Mass Commencement and Awarding Program held at Nature’s Village in Talisay Metropolis on February 17. (Contributed photograph)

SOME 1,900 farmers in Negros Occidental have gained enhance by way of the Faculty-On-Air on Sensible Rice Agriculture (SOA-SRA) Applied sciences program of the Division of Agriculture (DA).

It additionally contributed to the rise within the rice self-sufficiency degree of the province, which at present stands at 87.52 %.

Aired over DYEZ Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod from June to September 2021, this system seeks to optimize the yield efficiency and scale back the manufacturing bills of taking part farmers.

As a collaborative endeavor of the company’s Agricultural Coaching Institute (ATI) in Western Visayas, Philippine Rice Analysis Institute (PhilRice), and the Provincial Authorities of Negros Occidental, the SOA-SRA intends to capacitate farmers in resolving the rising sectoral constraints and making the rice manufacturing trade extra resilient and aggressive.

It’s being carried out nationwide.

ATI Regional Coaching Middle-Western Visayas’ Nikki Gallego, in the course of the Provincial Mass Commencement and Awarding Program held at Nature’s Village in Talisay Metropolis on February 17, mentioned there are farmer-graduates from 25 cities and cities in Negros Occidental with the best variety of graduates from Sipalay Metropolis, Hinoba-an, and San Carlos Metropolis.

Gallego mentioned 32 broadcasted canned and stay episodes which are centered on the PalayCheck System, climate-smart agricultural practices, and digital rice manufacturing instruments.

These have been additionally aimed toward sustaining the technical schooling of smallholder farmers, notably in places with no more than 4 metric tons per hectare common yield.

In the meantime, DA-Western Visayas Regional Info Officer James Earl Ogatis mentioned they’re maximizing the usage of radio as help in reaching out and transferring mandatory technical know-how to farmers in far-flung places as a part of the company’s extension service.

With the ATI, Ogatis mentioned they’ve seen that there’s nonetheless a big inhabitants of farmers who depend on radio to supply out data and updates on agriculture regardless of the emergence of social media.

“The SOA-SRA is being carried out to reinforce the restricted attain of agricultural extension employees (AEWs),” he mentioned, including that farmers have to be geared up on how to make sure profitability in rice manufacturing regardless of the unavoidable rise in the price of fertilizer, gas and different farm inputs.

The regional company recommends to farmers topic their crop soil for laboratory evaluation to find out the inputs required for environment friendly fertilizer utility.

“Our soil evaluation is without spending a dime. Coordinate together with your respective native agriculture workplace to avail of the service on the Regional Soils Laboratory in Iloilo Metropolis,” Ogatis informed the farmers.

He additionally urged contributors to make the most of natural fertilizers equivalent to vermicast and vermi tea, and to chorus from burning rice straws that makes rice lands much less productive.

PhilRice-Negros Supervising Science Analysis Specialist Albert Christian Suñer, for his half, inspired farmers to correctly undertake the PalayCheck System and beneficial rice manufacturing methods to translate the hovering value of farm inputs into a rise within the rice manufacturing quantity and yield.

In the meantime, the provincial authorities allotted P220,000 counterpart for the conduct and provision of economic incentives to top-performing SOA-SRA graduates.

Performing Provincial Agriculturist Dina Genzola mentioned that as a part of the province’s improvement agenda dubbed “Abanse Negrense,” the federal government helps the conduct of SOA-SRA.

Genzola mentioned it’s the provincial authorities’s means to achieve farmers in distant areas and ship the right applied sciences they should study to realize profitability.

On high of the subjects mentioned over the radio, AEWs of the Workplace of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) additionally supplied on-field technical help and mentoring to rice farmer-enrollees.

To determine the influence of SOA-SRA Applied sciences on Negrense group, the provincial authorities created a Seek for Excellent Farmer Graduates based mostly on sure standards.

These included the variety of applied sciences adopted as manifested within the standing crop – 40 %; administration abilities and technical data – 20 %; studying angle and sample of resolution making 20 %; and farm document conserving – 20 %.

Three top-performing graduates obtained P35,000 P25,000, and P15,000 money awards, respectively.

The quantity was on high of the P5,000 incentives they obtained as municipal awardees.

Provincial Excellent SOA-SRA farmer-graduates are Cornelia Santiana of Barangay Caduha-an in Cadiz Metropolis, Leonardo Gubat of Barangay Puey in Sagay Metropolis, and Arnulfo Lapastura of Barangay Manlucahoc in Sipalay Metropolis.

Furthermore, the Aluyan Caduha-an Farmers Affiliation in Cadiz Metropolis and Manara Puey Irrigators’ Affiliation in Sagay Metropolis obtained granular applicators from the DA-Western Visayas’ rice program.

The gasoline-powered engine with a 26-liter tank capability is used for the exact distribution of seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides.

The primary season of SOA-SRA in Negros Occidental was facilitated and anchored by Provincial Coordinator Dr. Mary Ann Ordinario and Provincial Farmcaster Lucilla Perartilla.

One other season is about to start in Could 2022, targetting a better variety of enrollees provincewide. (With experiences from DA-Western Visayas)