The Project IPAD holds
Agrikapihan sessions with the Agridoc trainees and the Maligaya farming
community at the FutureRice farm last February 12 and 17.
Agrikapihan
is an open forum discussion on different topics on agriculture and farming. In
the recent sessions, the participants tackled topics on organic agriculture and
the effects of climate change on rice production.
During the Agrikapihan
held last February 12, the Agridoc trainees were divided into two groups joined
by seven (7) farmers from Mabini while the February 17 session was participated
by 7 PhilRice interns, 19 farmers and Mr. Alberto Hernandez, barangay committee
member on agriculture.
Agridoc
or Agricultural
Development Officers of the Community is a training program
under the Project IPAD. It aims to train a new breed of rice extensionists
through a 6-module program within 6 months. The program educates, empowers and
enhances the skills of every trainee through different exercises, hands-on
experiences, farm site visits, seminars and other learning activities.
Project IPAD stands for Improving
Technology Promotion and ¬Delivery Through Capability Enhancement of the Next
Generation of Rice Extension Professionals and Intermediaries. It is
supported by ATI, and IRRI as part of DA's Food Staples Sufficiency
Program, with funding from the DA National Rice Program through the DA-Bureau
of Agricultural Research.
A part of the FutureRice farms serves as the
boot camp for the AgriDoc training that houses the trainees’ plots for manual
and mechanical rice transplanting and organic vegetables.
The FutureRice Program generally aims to
prepare the farmers for future rice farming scenarios through its four (4)
major components: (1) Knowledge Management, (2) Establishment of Smart Farms,
(3) Rice Academy and (4) Farm Automation.
Visit and like our Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/FutureRice
Writer: Jan Lois Zippora A. Libed
