30 NegOcc farmers complete DAR farm biz training

SOME 30 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental have completed their training under the Farm Business School (FBS) of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The graduation rites, held at Palmas del Mar Resort in this city on Monday, was the culmination of the 25-session training attended by the ARBs of the Estela Agrarian Reform Cooperative located in Barangay San Miguel.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Lucrecia Taberna, DAR-Negros Occidental II (South) chief, said the FBS is an on-site entrepreneurial training and education aimed at capacitating farmers in farm technology and agribusiness.

“Farmers were trained on how to become entrepreneurs and how to manage farms as enterprises to improve their production,” Taberna said.

This program seeks to open opportunities for ARBs as they are now equipped with entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and values, she added.

The participants were trained on market survey, accounting, farm budget planning, benchmarking, and market forum and matching.

“To ensure sustainability, the DAR is just here to support all our farmer-beneficiaries, especially in the delivery of various support services responding to the needs of their respective cooperatives and organizations,” Taberna said.

Joan Dionaga, who received the highest honor award, said the training made her and fellow ARBs realize that farming is the gateway to progress.

“We must apply the skills and strategies taught by the DAR through FBS in making our lands more productive,” she added.

In August, Taberna signed a memorandum of agreement with La Carlota City executive assistant Edgardo Canlas and Estela Agrarian Reform Cooperative chairman Nelson Agotmo for the conduct of the said FBS training to develop the entrepreneurial skills of the ARBs for the effective management of their farm produce and to optimize their profitability. (PNA)