Alice Tabuno
Tabuk, Kalinga- The Department of Agriculture- Regional Field Unit- CAR and the GMA Corn Directorate, will launch the School-On-Air (SOA) program in Tabuk, Kalinga on January 18, 2005.
This is in coordination with the DA Provincial agricultural services and the Provincial Government of Kalinga. It aims to educate farmers on corn production and technologies through radio broadcast.
The SOA in Kalinga is the 3rd SOA to be held; the first one already finished, while the other is on-going in Ifugao province particularly in Alfonso Lista, which, according to Mr. Gerardo Banawa, Regional Corn Coordinator have graduated a total of 146 corn farmers.
Banawa added that the SOA is just one way of information dissemination to would be corn farmers. He further stated that Kalinga has a total corn area of 5,847 hectares for yellow corn and 43 hectares for white or glutinous corn.
Banawa revealed that an expanded target area of 720 hectares had been set-aside, for corn production in the municipalities of Rizal with 200 hectares target corn area while Tabuk was allotted 520 hectares for the said commodity.
The larger portion of farmlands is used for rice production which is the main crop of the province.
The School-On-The air is a specially designed radio program where the subject matter is presented systematically and in progressive manner where the ultimate goal is achieving desired results under a teaching-learning situation.
Meanwhile, Ms. Juliana B. Adam, Supervising Agriculturist of the Provincial Agricultural Services office in Tabuk, said the Governor and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan members have unanimously agreed to give counterpart logistics to fund the program as stated in the Memorandum of Agreement duly signed by Atty. Cipriano G. Santiago, OIC Regional Director of DA-CARFU and Kalinga Governor Dominador Belac.
Adam further added that the DA Provincial office have already enrolled more than 200 participants/ corn farmers from the different municipalities to join the program.
She assured the regional office that the SOA will be successful as seen from the enthusiasm showed by the enrollees.
It was likewise revealed that the SOA will be a continuing effort, in order to accommodate more farmers interested in the program.
The SOA had been conceptualized by the DA so that farmers' can be reached through radio, the fastest, easiest, cheapest and practical way of educating them right in their own homes by themselves or in groups.
The launching program will feature the formal gathering of the enrolled farmers for the 3 months duration of the SOA scheduled on February- April 2005; after which farmer graduates shall be conferred by the DA-CARFU Regional Executive Director, the National corn program officer and LGU officials.
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