BAUKO, Mountain Province – To further strengthen local agriculture and fisheries extension services, the Department of Agriculture – Cordillera (DA-CAR), DA-Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center – CAR (ATI-CAR), and DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources – CAR (BFAR-CAR) is currently conducting the 2-day Provincial-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems (PAFES) 2024 Year-end Assessment and 2025 Planning Workshop on November 6-7, 2024 in Mt. Data, Bauko, Mountain Province.
Representatives from each province presented their Physical and Financial Performance from January to October 2024, along with good practices, documentation of their PAFES implementation, and challenges they faced. These presentations were reviewed by ATI-CAR Assistant Center Chief Maximino Aromin and DA-CAR Institutional Development Unit Head Gladys Aligo, who provided feedback and recommendations to improve each province’s PAFES implementation.
Aromin also provided an overview of the activity, emphasizing the core purpose of the PAFES: to strengthen extension services for farmers and fisherfolk at the provincial level. This initiative aims to prepare local government units (LGUs) for the transition amidst the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, where responsibility for certain agriculture-related matters currently managed by the national government will soon shift entirely to the LGUs. Consequently, agricultural extension services will become more accessible to farmers and fisherfolk.
Further, Aromin said that PAFES is designed to be harmonized with the Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation (F2C2), which is also one of the purposes of the PAFES, since they have a similar framework. The PAFES emphasizes macro-level development through the Collaborative Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Programs (CPAFEP), which target broader provincial agriculture advancements. In contrast, the F2C2’s Cluster Development Plan (CDP) focuses on micro-level farm clusters, employing a grassroots approach to directly support local farmers and fisherfolk.
During the planning workshop, participants drafted their three-year updated CPAFEP that includes proposals aligning with their existing programs and projects, as well as new program proposals focused on their priority commodities. Additionally, a project/activity proposal specifically for rice cluster development fund was also added, which will be managed by ATI-CAR.
Mountain Province was awarded as the top PAFES implementer for this year.
In takeaways, Mountain Province Provincial Agriculturist Mary Jane Tumapang said that the activity served as a platform for LGUs to learn from each other’s best practices, while underscoring the importance of collaboration with colleagues and beneficiaries.
Office of Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. Executive Assistant Ernesto Bondad and Mountain Province Provincial Veterinarian Rogelio Bagawi also graced the activity to give their support to the initiative. By Cy-j E. Waytan
