FFS in Impasugong, Bukidnon teaches farmers’ knowledge on corn production with emphasis on integrated crop management cum GAP.

 

IMPASUG-ONG, BUKIDNON – To empower farmers in improving rural food security and income generation, the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 10 (DA-RFO 10) through Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado launched the season-long Farmers’ Field School (FFS) on Corn Production with Emphasis on Integrated Crop Management cum Good Agricultural Practices on June 14 and 16, 2022, this town.

Around 55 farmers from barangay Dumalaguing and sitio Mintapod of barangay Hagpa, convened to form a learning group that will meet weekly for four months, coinciding with their planting crop cycle.

The FFS otherwise known as a “School Without Walls” is a platform for improving the decision-making capacities of farming communities as well as encouraging local innovations for sustainable agriculture, at the same time.

Further, it involves farmers making choices in the methods of production through a discovery-based approach.

DA-10 Provincial Operations Chief of Bukidnon Janet D. Lopez, DVM said, that DA supports corn farmers on how to shift toward more sustainable production practices, improve food security, generate higher incomes, and create confidence among participants to improve their well-being.

On the other hand, Senior Agriculturist of the Municipal Agriculture’s Office of Impasug-ong, Dianne Jane B. Gante conveyed, that the training will reinforce the farmer participants’ knowledge, observations and analysis of their crops and farms which will be an essential tool to make their own location-specific decisions about crop management practices.

The facilitating agricultural extension workers will teach farmers about experimental studies related to Fertilizer Trial, Population Density Trial, Detasseling Trial, and Intercropping Trial.

A pre-and post-test will be conducted as part of every FFS for diagnostic purposes and for determining follow-up activities.

In his message, Mintapod sitio leader Mark Arthur A. Altohan said, “Lubos ang pasasalamat ko sa DA sa mga tulong na naiparating sa amin. Hinihikayat ko ang aking mga kasamahan na seryosohin at maging kooperatibo sa mga programa at proyekto ng gobyerno upang balang araw maipagmamalaki natin ang bunga ng ating pagsisikap.”

The cited activity was initiated by the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) funded by the Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo (4Ks) and the Corn program of the agency which is also in support of Executive Order No. 70 of the NTF-ELCAC. #(RDMElloren)