So we got invited to witness how ATI Regional Training Center in Calabarzon held their blended course on goat management with the students of Batangas State University – Lobo Campus. Our KM Coordinators from the ATI Training Centers are given leeway to innovate in promoting and conducting e-learning in their own respective areas. This time, KM Coordinator Dr. Rolando Maningas, (whom we fondly call Doc Olan) from ATI RTC IV-A partnered with BSU in Lobo, Batangas for their students taking up BS Agriculture and BS Forestry.

Trials in all walks of life are essential to test how we would react, but most especially on how these trials would mold us on how to be a better individual. We may not be perfect, but as they say our imperfections make us really perfect. And for an effective teamwork to happen, the members must complement what their fellow members can do for the group, for a specific goal, more so for the successful implementation of a program / project.

As I have been oriented on how organic farming is being practised, I am for it.

Visiting some organic farms recently convinced me that we can go back to the way things were.
I was amazed with the food that we tasted, with the drinks they gave us. With simple preparations and without artificial seasonings, they tasted so good. That's why slowly I am doing it at home.

I am not a farmer, I did not even grow up in a farming community. But I get to learn some farming techniques when I started to work at the Agricultural Training Institute about 15 years ago (whew, that's surely a lot of learnings and realizations I should have right now).

At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy agriculture, the very reason why I didn't focus my elective courses in college on agriculture, but I took some agricultural economics instead. Little did I know, you wouldn't learn the economics of it if you have no knowledge on farming.

We'd like to give a salute to the man who made us realized that Philippine e-Extension and ATIiNteractive possible. He made himself a part of the ATI family and pushed us to embrace change and think outside the box. With him, we were able to push through with e-learning and expanded it further to embrace the different components of the e-Extension Program for Agriculture and Fisheries. We were able to put up the Farmers' Contact Center, which now serves as a frontline helpdesk of the Department of Agriculture for farm and business advisory services and a technical support for e-Learning.

SACY is what we called him when he was still with the Department of Agriculture. It stands for Secretary Arthur C. Yap, a man we have known that has high standards since we started working with him. I remember he had some frustrations with ATI as the Institute could hardly cope up with his expectations as the training and extension arm of the Department.