MASBATE CITY -- A total of thirty (30) farmer-members of the Sinalongan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organization (SARBO) in barangay Sinalongan, Masbate transformed themselves into farmer-entrepreneurs as they graduate from the Farm Business School (FBS) of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in partnership with the city government of Masbate during a graduation ceremony cum harvest festival held here recently.
DAR-Masbate Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Floro A. Espares said the FBS aims to develop agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to become agricultural entrepreneurs and inculcate in their minds that farming is a business.
He encouraged the graduates to become disciples in applying the methodologies they learned from their training starting from land preparation until harvest time.
“We are aware of your different plights as farmers and we intend to continue in helping and assisting you in increasing your production which, eventually, will translate into higher income,” Espares stressed.
The 30 farmer-members of SARBO underwent 25 sessions composed of eight modules which started from March 3, 2021, with the process of learning and practice designed and developed to help farmers learn how to make their farming enterprises and overall farm operations profitable and market-driven.
Among the training materials provided by the DAR provincial office of Masbate to the training participants were seedlings, seedling trays, hoe, sprinkling cans, drums, vermicasts, and plastic mulches.
Edgardo Eser, Sr., one of the graduates and President of the SARBO, narrated that farmers in their community used to sell their harvests without knowing if they gained or lost and without a sustainable marketplace.
Eser as a representative of all his co-graduates expressed their gratitude for having been chosen as recipients of the FBS program wherein they were able to re-frame their production-focused practices towards a more entrepreneurial and market-oriented farming operations.
Mariabeth A. Dela Cruz, also a graduate, shared that women in their community participate less in farm activities because they were confined to traditional household chores, leaving them at the brink of poverty.
“With the help and guidance of the Development Facilitators (DFs), they were able to get involved in farm production activities to increase income for their families,” she said.
DAR’s implementation of the FBS in the province of Masbate started in 2018. From the year 2018 to the year 2021, DARPO-Masbate was able to produce 150 farmer-graduates from five (5) ARBO-recipients of the program, which include the LaUmaExInPi Peoples’ Organization, Quezon ARBs and Marginalized Farmers Association, Jamorawon Multipurpose Cooperative, Paraiso ARBs and Marginalized Farmers Association and Sinalongan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organization. (DAR)
