BULANAO TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section (RAFIS) of the Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture–Regional Field Office (DA-RFO-CAR) successfully launched the School-on-Air (SoA) on Corn Good Agricultural Practices at the Bulanao Elementary School in Tabuk City, Kalinga.
“SoA is a university without walls,” stressed DA-RFO-CAR OIC-Regional Executive Director Lorenzo Caranguian. He also said that SoA is a good program because farmers can work in their farms while tuning in to the radio so he encourages everyone to enroll in this program.
Corn farmers from the different municipalities of Kalinga can now learn good agricultural practices on corn through the radio. The three-month program will be aired through the DZRK Radyo Pilipinas–Kalinga from August to November.
The module is divided to 8 lessons to be discussed in three months over this station every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The farmers are enrolled and their learning levels are assessed via pre- and post-diagnostic tests and quizzes. Farmer-enrollees who satisfactorily complete all the requirements will graduate and will be given certificates for future purposes.
The objective of the SoA is to increase the production of corn in Kalinga and serve as a stepping stone for farmers to apply good agricultural practices in their farms according to Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Juliana Aclam saying “it is not enough that the production area increased thus, there is also a need to increase the quantity and quality of corn production.”
Caranguian headed the unveiling of course kits during the SoA launching ceremonies assisted by Assistant Corn Coordinator Gerardo Banawa of DA-RFO-CAR, APCO Alpha Lumetic of Kalinga, Aclam and Jaila Sagpa-ey from the Cordillera office of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI-CAR). The course kits will be distributed by the municipal agriculture technicians to the farmer enrollees.
The launching was in coordination with the Corn Program of DA-RFO-CAR, ATI–CAR, the provincial of Kalinga and DZRK Radyo Pilipinas–Kalinga attended by 200 corn farmers and stakeholders.
A symbolic commitment signing was also done during the program to signify the commitment of every stakeholder in the undertaking and achieving goals and purposes of the School-on-Air to ensure the proper implementation of the SoA.
By Karen T. Gawigawen
