BUTUAN CITY - A total of 322 enrollees have completed the 16-week School-on-the-Air (SOA) on Inbred Rice Seeds Production and Farm mechanization under Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Extension Services Program (RCEF-RESP).

The graduates are composed of farmers and Agricultural Extension Workers (AEWs) from the RCEF-priority areas of the province of Agusan del Norte which includes Butuan City, Cabadbaran City, Buenavista, Jabonga, Kitcharao, Las Nieves, and RTRomualdez. Although face-to-face engagement is prohibited in this time of the pandemic, on-air graduation was held on November 12, 2020 over Hope Radio-Butuan. It marked the official completion of the enrollees and the fulfillment of all SOA requirements. The top three graduates per LGU were also recognized during the event as well the SOA coordinators, LGUs and resource persons who shared their time and expertise during the implementation of the program.

OIC Provincial Agriculturist Alvin Aclan acknowledged the collaborative effort of the PLGU and the municipal LGUs in the successful conduct of the radio program. "We hope that through the knowledge gained from such training and by adopting modern farming technologies, we can be able to increase the yield if not expand the existing area of production in the province," said Aclan.

Sonita A. Salina, a graduate from Jabonga, shared in her impression how she appreciated all the learnings particularly on the nine KeyChecks of the PalayCheck System which she said will serve as a guide in increasing production and income. She emphasized the importance of practicing synchronous planting and the proper fertilizer application.

OIC Chief of the Career Development and Management Services Section of ATI-Caraga, Violeta T. Laguna, encouraged the graduates to apply the technologies that they learned from the season-long training so that other neighboring farmers will be enjoined to adopt the same. On the other hand, Center Director Samuel L. Calonzo thanked all the enrollees who sustained their commitment to SOA.

Aside from certificates of completion, each of the graduates will also receive one bag of Complete fertilizer as extension support and IEC material on PalayCheck System to reinforce their learning.

The SOA was conducted by the Agricultural Training Institute - Regional Training Center 13 in coordination with the PLGU of Agusan del Norte and the support of Rodolfo D. Nalla, who acted as program anchor.