ZAMBOANGA CITY, June 17 (PIA) – A total of 247 local farmers participated in the series of technology service caravan of the Department of Agriculture (DA), recently in selected villages of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay.
The technology service caravan is implemented under DA’s Adaptation and Mitigation Initiatives (AMIA) and Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) programs in support to the development of farming enterprises to AMIA villages, such as the municipality of Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte, the municipalities of Titay and Imelda in Zamboanga Sibugay.
The techno-caravan held on June 8 to 10, 2022 was aimed at enhancing the climate resilient agricultural (CRA) practices in the AMIA Villages in the region.
“This activity would better prepare them in their respective communities from the impacts of climate change,” Reynaldo M. Campomanes, DA 9 -AMIA focal person said.
Among the resource speakers were from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), DA – Regional Soils Laboratory (RSL), and DA-Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC).
Rock D. Diamante, PCIC Sales and Marketing Division Chief presented the PCIC services and discussed the importance of crops and livestock insurance.
Christopher Ian Bahinting, DA-RSL staff shared a lecture on Soil Sampling and Testing, as well as the significance of Balanced Fertilization Strategy. While, Sheila M. Yamba and Julius G. Cabantug from the DA-RCPC discussed the importance of using Biological Control Agents such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarrhizium anisopliea, Euborelia annulata, Trichogramma japonicom and Trichogramma evanescens, in farm crops production.
The participants also received assorted 8-in-1 pack vegetable seeds, biological control agents such as Metarrhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, and IEC material on AMIA weather update.
The agriculture department said that building the resilience of agriculture and fisheries communities to climate change is crucial in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) objectives in the country, thereby bringing the country closer to ending poverty.
The Philippines’ geographical location and archipelagic formation make it one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, and the agriculture and fisheries sector, where most of the country’s poor are also active, bears the brunt of its adverse effects. (EDT/RVC/PIA9 with reports from Jolly Bhee Caybot/DA-RFO IX, RAFIS)
