DILIMAN, Quezon City—With plant nurseries seen as sustainable food source, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) capitalizes on creating a pool of plant nursery management experts in the country, composed of selected technical staff from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and key attached agencies and bureaus.

Relative to this, a National Training of Trainers (ToT) on Nursery Establishment, Management, and Accreditation is set to be conducted on August 5-6 via Google Meet as organized by the Institute in partnership with Bureau of Plant Industry - National Seed Quality Control (BPI-NSQC).

This will convene some deputized plant nursery evaluators and plant material inspectors from the DA-Regional Field Offices, representatives from the BPI-NSQC Regional Satellites, and focal persons of the ATI Regional High Value Crops Development Program.

The training program aims to further enhance the capacities of the participants in transferring up-to-date technologies on plant nursery management to farm leaders and help them produce high-quality planting materials.

Specifically, the participants will learn the standards and procedures on nursery management and accreditation, as well as the establishment of Scion grove, through a series of lectures and discussions.

Self-administered field exercises in their respective regions are also part of the activity.

After the training, the participants are expected to aid in the establishment of more plant nurseries and provide technical support in the renewal of accreditation of some 95 out of 122 nurseries nationwide.

Likewise, a regional roll-out of this training program is scheduled this year, which will be implemented by the participants from the ATI training centers.

Moreover, the completion of this two-day national ToT is equivalent to 11 Continuing Professional Development units.