Ilocanos urged to engage in farm tourism, establish farm schools
Published Feb 2, 2020 12:00 am
By Freddie Lazaro
VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur – Senator Cynthia Villar has advised Ilocano farmers to engage in farm tourism and establish farm schools to help promote the significance of modernized agriculture without sacrificing the environment, while increasing crop and livestock productivity.
Sen. Cynthia Villar (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Villar issued the call during her recent visit to this city to grace the Agriculture Day of the 2020 Longganisa Festival held at the Vigan Convention Center here.
She also led the groundbreaking for the construction of a four-storey Vigan City Polyclinic in Barangay 4.
Under the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016 or the Republic Act 10816, she said that the law aims to help farmers increase their income by providing alternative sources of income.
To put-up a farm school or farm tourism site, Villar advised the farmers to coordinate with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) to learn more about the requirements.
When an agricultural area turns into a farm tourism site and eventually transformed into a farm school accredited as a TESDA, Villar said the farm owners could earn up to P100,000 a month for the training of 25 students.
She said that the national government has allotted sufficient budget to TESDA for payment to the trainers of the farmers and fisherfolks who will avail of free agricultural skills training and study.
According to Villar, a total of 1,855 tourist farms and farm schools have already been established all over the country to accommodate all students or Filipinos, who are interested to learn new technologies for organic agriculture.
Through the creation of farm tourism, Villar said that this was encouraged the youths in some foreign countries to go back to agriculture venture.
“We are also working on the accreditation of these farm schools to the TESDA for the payment by the agency to the tuition fees of all interested Filipinos, who want to learn agriculture in the farm schools,” she said.
“It is important for our farmers to learn the farm mechanization and new farming technologies to make them more profitable and more competitive,” she added.
Villar, who is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, assured that the Senate would pass new bills that are beneficial to the farmers and fisherfolks this year.
When the lawmakers passed the Rice Tarrification Law, Villar said that the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Funds (RCEF) was created to give all collected tariffs from rice importation will be given to all farmers.
The national government through the General Appropriations Act allotted P10 billion per year to make the Filipino rice farmers more productive and more competitive.
Under the program RCEF program, she said that a total of 947 towns in 57 provinces were enumerated as recipients of the P5 million worth of farm equipment every year. These farm types of equipment include transplanter, harvester, tiller, dryer and milling machine.
Aside from the farm equipment, Villar said the national government is also distributing 20 kilograms inbreed seed of rice to increase rice production per season.
Sen. Cynthia Villar (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Villar issued the call during her recent visit to this city to grace the Agriculture Day of the 2020 Longganisa Festival held at the Vigan Convention Center here.
She also led the groundbreaking for the construction of a four-storey Vigan City Polyclinic in Barangay 4.
Under the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016 or the Republic Act 10816, she said that the law aims to help farmers increase their income by providing alternative sources of income.
To put-up a farm school or farm tourism site, Villar advised the farmers to coordinate with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) to learn more about the requirements.
When an agricultural area turns into a farm tourism site and eventually transformed into a farm school accredited as a TESDA, Villar said the farm owners could earn up to P100,000 a month for the training of 25 students.
She said that the national government has allotted sufficient budget to TESDA for payment to the trainers of the farmers and fisherfolks who will avail of free agricultural skills training and study.
According to Villar, a total of 1,855 tourist farms and farm schools have already been established all over the country to accommodate all students or Filipinos, who are interested to learn new technologies for organic agriculture.
Through the creation of farm tourism, Villar said that this was encouraged the youths in some foreign countries to go back to agriculture venture.
“We are also working on the accreditation of these farm schools to the TESDA for the payment by the agency to the tuition fees of all interested Filipinos, who want to learn agriculture in the farm schools,” she said.
“It is important for our farmers to learn the farm mechanization and new farming technologies to make them more profitable and more competitive,” she added.
Villar, who is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, assured that the Senate would pass new bills that are beneficial to the farmers and fisherfolks this year.
When the lawmakers passed the Rice Tarrification Law, Villar said that the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Funds (RCEF) was created to give all collected tariffs from rice importation will be given to all farmers.
The national government through the General Appropriations Act allotted P10 billion per year to make the Filipino rice farmers more productive and more competitive.
Under the program RCEF program, she said that a total of 947 towns in 57 provinces were enumerated as recipients of the P5 million worth of farm equipment every year. These farm types of equipment include transplanter, harvester, tiller, dryer and milling machine.
Aside from the farm equipment, Villar said the national government is also distributing 20 kilograms inbreed seed of rice to increase rice production per season.