Make sure to get a copy of the August issue of Agriculture Magazine, which is now off the press, so you will get updated on the latest developments in crop production aquaculture and many more. The cover story is on the Crabs of Lala, the crab capital of Lanao del Norte. The town of Lala boasts of 3,000 hectares of fishponds for growing crabs, prawns and some other species. The town holds the annual Alimango Festival every March 22, a tradition started by Mayor Santiago Bontilao some eight years ago.

You will read about the success story of Tarcilo Tabalbag, a poor boy who started to catch crabs in the Lala River with a trap called “Bintol” when he was 12 years old. Today, he is a multi-millionaire in his own right, thanks to the crabs of Lala.

The August issue also features Lanao del Norte as a Land of MILK, not MILF. It is because the province is where you can find the biggest dairy farm in the country operated by the Lanao Foundation, Inc.

Another success story you will read in the magazine is that of Dr. Romulo G. Davide’s Farmer-Scientist Training Program which he started in Cebu more than a dozen years ago. This program trains ordinary farmers on scientific farming so that they can improve their production as well as their incomes.

Today, the training program has spread to Bohol, Siquijor, Negros Oriental, Davao del Norte, Leyte and Mindoro. And because of its success in improving the economic status of farmers, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed an executive order late last year calling for the adoption of the program in other parts of the country.

You will also read about the microbial-based fertilizer developed by BIOTECH in Los Banos. Aside from Bio-N which has become very popular with rice and corn farmers in many parts of the country, there are other new ones which include Mykovam, Nitro-Plus, Biogroe, Bio-quick and Bio-fix.

Other stories include features on seed production of rice and pole sitao, an improved drum seeder for rice, trailblazers in organic banana and papaya production in Tarlac, and many others.

Copies of the magazine are available in bookstores and outlets of the Manila Bulletin nationwide. It will also be available at the Agri-Kapihan tomorrow, July 26, at the courtyard of radio station DWWW in Quezon City.