Ericson Atanacio of Terra Verde Ecofarm shares the characteristics and values of a successful agripreneur. (photo by Clemente Gabion)
METRO MANILA & SOUTH COTABATO—Some young farmer-leaders from different parts of the country are now equipped to advance the agribusiness sector after completing the National Training on Agripreneurship.
The Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) convened selected regional and provincial officers of the 4-H Club of the Philippines for the said training to further their entrepreneurial skills.
During the activity, the young farmers learned the basic principles and concepts of business planning and marketing in the agricultural context. They were, likewise, introduced to some innovations on crop value-adding, packaging of farm products, and business record keeping.
Furthermore, the training program was a platform to instill the values and characteristics of a successful agripreneur to the 4-H Club officers and members. In turn, they are expected to implement the agripreneurial action plan that they developed during the training.
Similarly, they will serve as partners of the Institute in terms of providing technical assistance in the regional level.
The national training was held simultaneously for two batches of participants last August 26-30 in Quezon City and Koronadal City, South Cotabato. One batch was comprised of young farmers from Luzon, while the other gathered participants from Visayas and Mindanao.
ATI Director Alfredo Aton graced the training program for the Luzon batch and encouraged the participants to start their own business in their respective areas. He also said that the event is in accordance with the directive of Agriculture Secretary William Dar to teach farmers to become market-oriented.
A benchmarking activity was also conducted as part of the training program. The Luzon batch visited Harbest Agribusiness Corporation in Taytay, Rizal, while the Visayas and Mindanao batch went to four ATI-certified Learning Sites in Region XII. These include the OrganicKian Farm, VMOTRIL Farm, Envirogreen Farm, and Mariano's Bloom Garden.
The resource persons for the Luzon batch were Ericson Atanacio of Terra Verde Ecofarm; Maria Clavelia Domingo of the Department of Agriculture-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service; Luis Bausa of Duran Farm Agribusiness and Training Center; and Charmyne Sanglay of Laguna Polytechnic State University. Meanwhile, speakers for the Visayas and Mindanao batch include Christian Joy Bansuan and Leslie Aranilla from the Department of Trade and Industry in Region XII.