BOTOLAN, Zambales—In this wooded campus of the President Ramon Magsaysay State University (PRMSU) that overlooks the sea at Barangay Porac in this town, hundreds of youngsters are planting the seeds of a sustainable future for Zambales.
BOTOLAN, Zambales—In this wooded campus of the President Ramon Magsaysay State University that overlooks the sea at Barangay Porac in this town, hundreds of youngsters are planting the seeds of a sustainable future for Zambales.
And while experts say that threats to food security include natural disasters, climate change, conflict, and market factors like price fluctuations, the waning interest in farming appeared to pose a critical challenge. He says he first studied Psychology at the PRMSU Main Campus in Iba town, but the pandemic experience made him realize just how important food production is—and how there is a need to sustain the viability of their family farm.
“With our experience here in school, there are a lot of doors we can choose from, although it will all be agri-focused” Lhane asserts. “We can do farm management, put up our own agri-business, or even go into teaching.” According to CAF records, students enrolled in Bachelor of Science in Agriculture numbered 180 for the first semester, 164 for the second semester, and 64 for mid-year term for schoolyear 2018-2019.
Then, there is the demand for agriculture workers abroad, a thing Angeles admits contributes to some brain drain in the industry. As many as 20 percent of the students from PRMSU find work abroad—mostly in the dairy farms of New Zealand, or in greenhouse food factories of Japan, Canada, and Israel, she says.
“We asked the help of the municipal agriculturist, who taught us seed selection, growing and planting seedlings, soil preparation and mulching, and then production of organic fertilizer and vermiculture,” says Rico. The BCV Farm nearby is another site that attracts visitors for its demonstration farm that focuses on organic farming and building climate-resilient farm facilities that reverse the negative impact of agriculture on the environment.
“There was a time when we were worried that if in the coming 12 years, we don’t develop a new generation of farmers, food security in the Philippines would suffer,” Verar recalls. “Now, we see much hope.” Under the YFC Program, youth participants can avail themselves of either of the three components: YFC Start-Up, which provides financial grant assistance for new or start-up agri-fishery enterprises; YFC Upscale, which makes it possible for previous YFC winners to continue, improve, and upscale their current agri-business operations; and YFC Business Development Assistance, which provides YFC awardees with common-shared facilities, equipment for value-adding and processing, research and...
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