Senator Cynthia A. Villar during an interview with the media after delivering her keynote speech during the Farmers’ Day of the week-long Naliyagan Festival.
PATIN-AY, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur - Senator Cynthia A. Villar attended the Farmers’ Day and Agrilympics on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at Datu Lipus Makapandong Cultural Government Center. The said event was part of the annual Naliyagan Festival which was celebrated from June 11-17, 2018.
During her keynote speech, Senator Villar who chairs the senate’s Agriculture and Food Committee, urged farmers to venture into a small business and transform their farms into farm schools and tourism farms. She mentioned Republic Act 10816 otherwise known as the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016 which seeks to develop the local farm tourism industry. This new opportunity for farmers is expected to raise their income and boost the growth of the agriculture sector in the country.
Accreditation of farm schools is the responsibility of the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Farms wanting to become farm schools need to get a certification first from the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) prior to accreditation by TESDA. In the establishment of a farm tourism site, accreditation will be done by the Department of Tourism (DOT). The role of ATI is to promote and encourage farmers and learning site cooperators to transform their farms into tourism farms.
The farmers who attended the said event were beneficiaries of program called Upland Sustainable Agri-forestry Development (USAD). This program is the pet project of Governor Adolph Edward G. Plaza who was present to give his message to his constituents and to accompany the visiting senator. Both elected officials also handed-over several awards to outstanding USAD farmers and Gawad Saka awardees.