Benavidez: Supporting DA’s extension services

Thursday, December 1, 2011

AS MANDATED by Republic Act 8435 or known as the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, the Department of Agriculture (DA) through its Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) taps and accredits the services of selected rural-based organizations, cooperatives, NGOs, people's organizations and multinational companies nationwide as DA-ATI’s private extension service providers or PESP.

The move is in line with DA’s commitment in modernizing Philippine agriculture by improving and hastening its delivery of extension services and agricultural training. It also opens opportunities for the wider participation of the private sector in pursuing this goal.

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Based on the Memorandum of Agreement for the accreditation which is valid for three years, these organizations will be given funds for extension programs based on their approved project proposals. DA will also provide technical assistance to those projects through capability-building trainings, as well as when people avail of agricultural and marketing assistance services.

Because of its track record and excellent performance in the Cordillera region, the Saint Louis University-Extension Institute for Small-Scale Industries Foundation (SLU-EISSIF) was accredited by the DA-ATI-CAR late last year as one of its PESPs. So far, SLU-EISSIF is the only NGO in the Cordillera region that was accredited by the DA-ATI-CAR.

SLU-EISSIF is a non-stock and non-profit private voluntary organization that does extension work for small business people through timely assistance. It is committed to create more self-reliant communities in the Cordillera region by bringing about a more equitable distribution of income through well-established programs on entrepreneurship and small enterprise development, livelihood and skills training, and community- based beekeeping.

Through its Beekeeping Research and Service Center in Bakakeng, EISSIF assists beekeepers by providing technical and entrepreneurship training to make them sustainable and self-sufficient. Raising bees requires a lot of technical knowledge, consistency of practice, observation and patience.

Like other agricultural activities, beekeepers are confronted with seasonal and environmental changes. Therefore, it is a must that agricultural extension workers have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of the beekeeping cycle, bee behavior and hive management that is adaptable to prevailing local conditions.

To fulfill this aim, SLU-EISSIF already conducted two batches of the five-day Basic Beekeeping Training for a total of 60 DA agricultural extension workers from the six provinces of the Cordillera region. They are expected to initiate advocacy campaigns about beekeeping at the community level and assist interested farmers in setting-up their own beekeeping projects.

Beekeeping is an emerging successful agricultural practice among the people in rural areas of the Cordillera region and regarded as a practical insurance against crop failure and unemployment. It is becoming a major potential strategy in empowering people in the grassroots by helping alleviate poverty.

Currently, barely over 36.66 percent of the national demand for honey and hive-based products is locally produced (BEENET Philippines, 2004). Most of what remains that constitute local demand are sourced out from imports. This increasing and unmet demand for these products is indeed a huge opportunity to trade in both local and international markets.

DA Secretary Proceso Alcala emphasizes the important contribution of bees in agriculture. “Aside from honey and other by-products, apiculture is equally important in fruit production and organic agriculture since it is an effective method of enhancing flower and fruit production in a natural way,” he said. (Comments may be directed to puboff@slu.edu.ph.)