FSTP founder guest at Loon launching

By Adam L. Saligumba

NO less than the legendary innovator and founder of the country's Farmer-Scientists Training Program (FSTP) was guest speaker during the launching ceremonies of the Loon FSTP November 14 at the Hayahay Hall, annex municipal building. Dr. Romulo Davide, professor emeritus of the University of the Philippines - Los Baños and a well-known figure in the Department of Agriculture personally came here to cascade the technology he first presented into the country's agricultural sector development.

Mayor Cesar Tomas Lopez and Vice Mayor Edwin Ladeza led local officials in welcoming Davide and his party during the launching. Davide's party included Dr. Luis Bolofer, Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology (CVSCAFT) System vice president; Dr. Carolyn May Oliver-Daquio, Agricultural Training Institute - Regional Training Center for Central Visayas (ATI-RTC 7) director; Asuncita Locaylocay, Integrated Pest Management Expert, ATI-RTC 7.

Fe Curato, OIC Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO); Leon Parac, Jr., Provincial Corn Coordinator, Engr. Arsenio D. Mesiona, NEDA consultant and Bohol deputy FSTP coordinator; Tito Cañas, APC extension section head and Antonio Arnejo FSTP study leader from UP-LB College of Agriculture. Wilfredo Abear, Argao Cebu-based farmer-scientist and Eufemio Fuego and Nestor Estoquia president and vice president respectively of the Farmer-Scientists Association, Panglao shared their testimonies to Loon technology adoptors. Loon municipal agriculture officer Trinita N. Suello, said that 67 farmer-participants representing the 67 barangays of the town attended the launching.

The FSTP participants were selected on the criteria as male; can read and write, not over 55 years, owns an arable land and can keep livestock. Finally, adoptors must be ready to accept or adapt modern methods and technology in farming and in the care of livestock; interested to learn modern farming by attending and undergoing classes, trainings, meetings and seminars; and willing to share his knowledge to the other farmers in his barangay.

According to Suello, the training of the farmer-scientists will be done every Tuesday of the week for a total of 18 weeks starting on November 18. A newly cleared area in the municipal nursery will be the demonstration or experimentation site of the future farmer-scientists of Loon. Dr. Davide, who hails from Argao, Cebu and recipient of national and international awards in agriculture, started the farmer-scientists training program in 1994 in his hometown. The overwhelming success of the program in the province of Cebu , which focuses in the planting of corn and various root crops, motivated Davide to spread it to Bohol where it was warmly welcomed particularly in Panglao and other municipalities which had established a Farmers' Information Technology Service (FITS) Center.

The FITS Center in Loon was inaugurated on October 18, 2006. Prior to the inauguration, Davide, accompanied by Engr. Mesiona, Dr. Daquio, Ms. Locaylocay and Reynaldo Comia of UP-Los Baños, came to Loon and had an initial meeting with Mayor Yul Lopez and local officials on August 22. In his message, Mayor Lopez thanked Davide and the representatives of local, regional and national agencies concerned with the program for giving their all-out support in the program's implementation in the town which would redound to the general welfare and economic well-being and development of the town's farmers. Loon's chief executive also pledged the resources of the local government unit to ensure the success of the program.

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