(From left) Provincial Agriculturist Engr. Pablito Balantac, Municipal Agriculturist Engr. Hazel Reyes, ATI CALABARZON Center Director Marites Cosico, and MoCA Family Farm owner Gigi Morris ink an agreement for the establishment of the regional ESP’s FITS Center. (photo by Janine Cailo)
PADRE GARCIA, Batangas—The Agricultural Training Institute’s (ATI) partnership with its Extension Service Providers (ESPs) reaches another level as it supports the enhancement of the latter’s capacity to bring agricultural information and technology services in the countryside.
This is through the establishment of Farmers’ Information and Technology Services (FITS) Center or Kiosks in national and regional levels of ESPs. Leading this effort, the ATI Regional Training Center (RTC) in CALABARZON forged an agreement with the MoCA Family Farm RLearning Center in opening a FITS Center in their farm—the first ESP in the country to do so.
On February 26, ATI CALABARZON and MoCA Family Farm officials led the launching ceremony of the FITS Center inside the farm located in Brgy. Castillo, Padre Garcia, Batangas. ATI CALABARZON Center Director Marites Cosico spoke in behalf of the Institute and congratulated MoCA Family Farm for this new milestone in their service as regional ESP.
MoCA Family Farm owner Gigi Morris expressed her gratitude for the honor given to her family to be the first regional ESP to host a FITS Center. In a Facebook post, she thanked ATI for trusting them to serve more farmers and stakeholders.
“ATI truly inspires us to strive to be better, so we can serve our family farming community better! [We are] always a proud ATI partner,” she said.
Batangas Provincial Agriculturist Engr. Pablito Balantac and Municipal Agriculturist Engr. Hazel Reyes also graced the launch and looked forward to the initiatives that they can jointly undertake with MoCA Family Farm’s FITS Center.
A FITS Center is a one-stop service facility that provides easy access to agriculture and fisheries information and technologies. It serves as one of the four interrelated modalities of the Techno Gabay Program, along with the Magsasaka Siyentista; information, education, and communication support; and information and communications technology utilization.
At present, there are around 860 FITS Centers located in provincial, municipal, and city local government units nationwide.