TAGUM CITY -- A top official of the Department of Agriculture on Friday, June 23, urged the Dabaonon to renew their commitment to promote and embrace agri-tourism through good practices that actually have transformed the province into the nation's "banana capital."
"You are now celebrating 50 glorious years of rapid growth and progress... Davao del Norte stood strong and is now soaring highier from this time onwards," Dr. Luz Taposok, director of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) told hundreds of stakeholders attending the opening ceremonies Friday of the Kadagayaan Festival 2017 that marks the week-long celebration of Davao del Norte's 50th Anniversary at the Activity Center of ther sprawling and modern Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex here.
Taposok was the ceremony's keynote speaker, representing Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who had prior commitment.
She said there are a lot of factors or indicators that measure the growth of a community, "but what matters most is how you face all things together in harmony beyond different cultures and practices."
Part of this, she added, is Dabaonons various contribution to tourism and agriculture industry in Davao del Norte.
It is along this line that the government through DA and the Department of Tourism (DOT) has been implementing programs to further hasten in the countryside through promotion of farm tourism destinations.
"There are now emerging farms that become tourist attractions nationwide including Davao del Norte. We help you prepare your areas to become farm tourism ready, equipped and set to be accredited officially as farm tourism site by DOT," she said.
Taposok also vowed to continue to capacitate farmers "for them to have right attitude, skills and knowledge essential in the field."
"ATI certifies farms. As a matter of fact, we will be multiplying a thousand more learning sites nationwide. We will establish more learning sites here in DavNor, the most perfect area that showcases the latest agricultural tech and they cater tours for visitors to learn agriculture," she said.
Sge said these learning sites may be upscaled to next level, a school for practical agriculture wherein the farm owners or cooperators are considered as teachers and their farms served as their practical school.
In Davao Region, ATI has already certified 15 learning sites and four practical schools for practical agriculture, among these from Davao del Norte.
"We will expand that, we have eight municipalities and three cities and in all of these areas, we will be establishing more learning sites from this time until the end of 2018.
This is only one of the initiatives undertaken by the DA through ATI to serve more farmers and fishers and to contribute the goal of providing affordable and available food for all," Taposok said.