LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Sept. 10(PIA) – – Benguet farmers again got a third wave of training as SM Foundation together with Harbest Agribusiness Corporation launched another farmers training program in Paoay, Atok on Thursday, September 8.

SM Foundation assistant vice president for Livelihood and Outreach Programs Cristie Angeles, Harbest Agribusiness Corporation president Arsenio Barcelona, and representatives from the provincial government of Benguet and municipality of Atok formally launched the training program for more than a 100 farmer beneficiaries.

According to Angeles, the Kabalikat Sa Kabuhayan Farmers Training is a program that provides farmers with the technology to produce fruits and vegetables ready for commercial sale. Thru the program, farming practices will be enhanced to give marginal farmers better livelihood opportunities.

Angeles said at least 200 farmers have acquired free training since it started in the province last year. The municipalities of Tuba and Atok were the pilot areas of these training programs.

Barcelona said that this extension program, which will run for one year, will benefit more than a hundred farmers from the municipalities of Atok, Kibungan, and Buguias.

The training program, adapted from Taiwan, consists of lecture and hands-on training on site which include land preparation, seed handling and seedling culture, crop management, fertilization, irrigation, pest and disease control, fruit selection, harvesting, post-harvest handling, and marketing. It also includes the drip irrigation method and new composting techniques for organic producing farms.

Angeles said that the farmers are expected to have an output of what they have learned from the program. They are expected to conduct a harvest festival that will feature their own produce which are high value crops. If it would be successful, the produce of the farmers here will have a chance to land in SM supermarkets and farmers will have additional market for their produce.

Meanwhile, Governor Nestor Fongwan thanked the organizers of the farmers training program. He said that the support of the private companies to the vegetable industry of the province is very much appreciated expressing that the private and government partnership will surely have a great impact in the vegetable industry of the province.

The governor assured that the provincial government will be supportive of this year-long program.

Since its inception by Harbest Agritech in 1998, this training program has evolved into an SM Supermalls mall-wide project in many SM mall branches.(RC-PIA CAR)