"How do you define a farmer in the context of the Farmers' Contact Center?" This was raised during the Regional Workshop on the Knowledgebase Creation for A&F on September 16-17, 2009 at La Rica Hotel, Tacloban City.

Considering the state of most of our farmers, the following queries keep popping in my mind: Do our farmers (common farmers) really have access to telephone lines and internet? Do they have time to avail of this service, knowing that most often they are busy in their fields? Do they know how to use these technologies?

Mr. Jose Rey Alo defined the farmer envisioned by the Farmers' Contact Center as: "One who does farming, he can be a progressive farmer, a weekend farmer, a full-time farmer, etc. Someone who can access the online system that is available." As to the access to technology particularly landline telephone, he said that there's an intensive move that all barangays will have access to telephone lines. But, this will depend on the program of the different service providers.

With these parameters, the challenge now for most of us in the field, is how our farmers could access and benefit the program. As in the past with the e-Learning, this would again mean more work for us. And more work is needed for the program to have impact in the lives of farmers. If you think about it, it is really a high mountain for us to climb. There will be hardships and challenges but surely the rewards would be greater.