ATI 8 teams up with VSU in FFD

The 85th anniversary of the Visayas State University (VSU) brought in almost 3,000 farmers, fisherfolk and small-medium processors and entrepreneurs in the region to celebrate the Farmers and Fisherfolk’s Day (FFD) on August 10, 2009.

The ATI 8 together with DA-RFU-8 and other private agencies teamed up with VSU in making the FFD worth remembering.  The center prided again for it has once more served our country’s agriculture workforce.

The FFD was one of the highlights of the week-long anniversary celebration designed to provide an avenue for farmers, fisherfolk, processors and entrepreneurs to exchange and share good farm practices, showcase their best crops and products and avail of technologies and information provided by the university.

Challenged by issues on global warming, health and safe food, this year’s FFD adopted the theme “Safer nutri-food in a cleaner and greener environment for better health”.  The participants had a great day viewing the agro-industrial booth exhibits and video presentations of farmers’ better practices; exchanging ideas with the University’s experts during the farmers’ forum; learning hands-on in food processing, beauty care and handicraft making; touring demonstration sites and laboratories; and partaking of food serve ala “Barrio Fiesta”.

The FFD also marked the awarding of the Outstanding “Ugmad” Farmer-Entrepreneur and Outstanding Vegetable Farmer.  The Ugmad award was bestowed to Mr. Alejandro S. Lauron of Alang-alang, Leyte and the latter to Mr. Wilfredo B. Rios of Ormoc city, Leyte.  The Ugmad award is given to a farmer-entrepreneur who is innovative, resourceful and adopts appropriate and environment-friendly technologies; able to sustain production and profit from it; a community leader who influenced other farmers; and involve in environment conservation.  The other award is the first this year sponsored by the East-West Seed Company who teamed up with VSU on the project “Utanon sa Kaugmaon”.

Another exciting event that farmers participated was the “Pinaka” contest on the biggest root crop (sweet potato, cassava, taro and ubi), and coconut; biggest/sweetest fruit (table banana, jackfruit and avocado); and biggest/longest vegetable (eggplant, ampalaya, and squash); biggest corn ear; and biggest native chicken egg.  They also had great laugh in Dulang Pinoy and showed their prowess in the Palakasan Festival where they outdo each other in peeling peanuts, dehusking coconut, stripping abaca, dehusking corn and many others.