Senator Cynthia Villar led the opening of her first farm school outside Luzon in Barangay San Jose, San Miguel town in Iloilo province on Jan. 20.
The farm school is intended for those who want to become modern farming technology trainers in their respective hometowns.
Villar said they started establishing Villar Sipag Farm Schools in Luzon four years ago.
“Kami ang nagtuturo sa mga trainers para umuwi sa bayan nila at sila magturo direkta sa mga farmers,” the lady senator said.
Accordimg to Villar, the good effects of the Luzon farm schools pushed them to replicate the project in the Visayas and soon in Mindanao.
“We perfected our courses and we improved our farm schools and now our focus is the Visayas and Mindanao,” she said.
“We want a (farm) school for every town in the Philippines,” Villar added.
The school is open to representatives of the local government units (LGUs), cooperatives, and farms.
However, Villar clarified that the school is not for ordinary farmers because they will eventually benefit the learnings from the trained trainers.
Trainees of the Villar Sipag Farm School in Iloilo are from the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Negros, Aklan, and Antique.
Villar said for rice school, the training program is good for two weeks. Learners will be trained Training of Trainers on Production of High-Quality Inbred Rice and Seeds and Farm Mechanization program in coordination with the Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center-Western Visayas and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.IMT
Photo courtesy of Carl Sardua
