DILIMAN, Quezon City—Supporting the National Women’s Month campaign of creating an enabling environment for women to be empowered, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) held a special free seminar to expand livelihood opportunities for Filipino women and their families.

Mushroom production is becoming popular in the country and seen as a way to provide practical, innovative, and sustainable livelihood for Filipinas. Hence, the special free seminar focused on mushroom production and processing technologies.

Agriculturist Mark Nello Alvarez from the ATI shared the mushroom production technology being practiced at Laguna State Polytechnic University in Siniloan, Laguna. His lecture focused on the types of mushroom, its dietary benefits, cultivation, and processing as well as the return on investment for mushroom enterprise.

Steps on the preparation of potato dextrose agar, fruiting bag, and inoculation were also demonstrated during the seminar.

Alvarez also shared the success story of some women in Famy, Laguna who earn Php1.00 to Php1.50 for every fruiting bag that they produce for mushroom cultivation. Data show that a woman can produce an average of 300 fruiting bags per day, thus, more women engaged in this enterprise means higher productivity.

The special free seminar was attended by around 100 individuals, mostly women, from the National Capital Region, CaLaBaRZon, MiMaRoPa, Western Visayas, and Northern Mindanao. It was held at the ATI Mess Hall on March 21, 2018.