In support to the government’s goal in advancing the agriculture industry’s adoption to more advanced forms of technology in farming, the Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center (ATI-RTC) 1 conducted the 3-day Training of Trainers (TOT) on Digital Farmers Program (DFP) Batch 1 on March 29-31, 2021 at ATI-RTC 1 Tebag East, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan.

The training was attended by 30 participants including farmer leaders, faculty members, youths, Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) cooperators, and representatives from various municipalities in La Union and Pangasinan. It aimed to prepare participants in implementing the Digital Farmers Program in their own communities.

Through their microteaching activity, participants were able to present and discuss Smartphone 101, How to Access the Internet, Internet Safe Basics, Basic and Advanced Agri-Apps, Social Media Marketing, e-Commerce Platforms, and Digital Transactions. Furthermore, the participants developed re-entry plans as part of their outputs, with the intention of implementing the technologies learned during the training and passing them on to the farmers in their municipalities.

“I learned a lot of technologies, such as how to use the agri-apps we downloaded to easily detect crop diseases, and I also learned about various platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Shopee, and Lazada, where I can post my products to gain more audience,” Ms. Althea Shanley R. Velasco, from the Eastern Pangasinan Agricultural College (EPAC) in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, shared on her learnings during the training.

This training is in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA)-ATI and Smart Communications, Inc. to support digital farming. Further, the second batch of TOT-DFP will be conducted on April 11-13, 2022 at ATI-RTC 1 Satellite Training Center, City of Batac, Ilocos Norte targeting farmer leaders from the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.