SIARGAO ISLAND, SURIGAO DEL NORTE. A brand new AGREA Farm School will be built in the early part of this year in the Municipality of San Isidro, in the surfing island paradise of Siargao.
AGREA has been getting massive support from the local government units as well as the agriculture agencies in Surigao del Norte.
A brand new farm-to-market road has already been built linking the existing government-owned farm property to the national road. In the works are an integrated water system and land expansion for more farming developments.
“The plan is to make this facility the first Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Training Institute (DA-ATI)- and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-accredited (TESDA) farm school and technical vocational organic agriculture assessment center in the whole CARAGA (Region XIII)”, said AGREA President and Founding Farmer Cherrie Atilano in a statement.
ALL IN. Supporting the project are the chairmen of twelve barangays of the Municipality of San Isidro, the Chief of Police, city councilors, Municipal Agriculture Officers, and farmer leaders, together with AGREA President and Founding Farmer Cherrie Atilano.
With the assistance of DA-ATI and TESDA, and the encouragement of the local government of Surigao del Norte, AGREA is looking at opening four courses at the farm school: Organic Agriculture Production NCII, Agroentrepreneurship, Agriculture Crops Production, and Farm Tourism.
“It is good to work with local leaders who believe that food security must be front and center in order to make Siargao’s tourism sustainable,” added Atilano.
Siargao emerges as the best island in Asia in the Condé Nast Traveler 2018 Readers' Choice Awards, followed by Boracay and Palawan.
“We have seen so many firsts. The AGREA Farm School already produced a lot of organic farmer practitioners in Marinduque, as well as farmer entrepreneurs, farm school teachers, and nationally-certified organic farming assessors,” said Atilano.
“We are excited that this accelerating model will soon be replicated in Mindanao. This is truly changing the narrative of agriculture in the Philippines.”