SANTA BARBARA, Pangasinan – A total of 30 agricultural extension workers (AEWs) from various municipalities of Pangasinan attended the Training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for Rice (Batch 1) on April 8-12, 2019 at ATI-RTC I, Tebag East, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan.
The said training aimed to capacitate the AEWs with necessary skills, attitudes and knowledge on GAP for Rice.
Mr. Kremlin del Castillo, Science Research Specialist II of Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, served as resource person for most part of the training course. He discussed the Overview and Eight Key Checks of PalayCheck System.
“Palaycheck system is an Integrated Crop Management System (ICM) for rice, which means it is a package of technologies,” he said. He also explained the PalayCheck principles. “Seeds and variety selection, land preparation, crop establishment at lahat ng area of management sa bukid na pinagsama-sama ang bumubuo sa PalayCheck, alisin mo man ang isa hindi na ito matatawag na PalayCheck,” he added.
Meanwhile, the participants went to the Philippine Center for Post-Harvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech), Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, wherein Mr. Niño Bencosta, PHilMech staff, showed and discussed rice mechanization technologies.
On the other hand, Ms. Alyssa Caryl Vallo, Training Specialist I of ATI-RTC I, discussed the Philippine National Standard for Good Agricultural Practices for Rice, and Certification Procedure.
As a highlight of the training, Mr. Fidel Patricio, Gawad Saka Awardee and PhilGAP certified farmer from Barangay Mabini, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, shared his expertise on rice production to the AEWs. He showed his five-hectare PhilGAP-certified farm that he managed for 35 years and the farm records he kept for the last 15 years.
The training was led by Training Specialist II Jeimelie Constantino, project officer, supported by training management team members, Training Specialist II Jordan Gabur and Training Assistant Reylyn Ermitanio.