SENATOR Cynthia Villar inaugurated Monday, January 20, her first training school for farm trainers outside Luzon in Barangay San Jose, San Miquel town in Iloilo.
The Visayas branch of the Villar Sipag Farm School has opened its training school to cater to trainers who will train farmers on new farming technology for free.
"We perfected our courses and we improved our farm (in Luzon). Now our focus is the Visayas so we can see the effect of the farm school," Villar said.
She said she saw the good effect of the school in Luzon and she wants to replicate it in the Visayas.
The farm school that have demo farms caters to those who want to be trainors.
"We are training the trainors so when they go home to their towns, they be the ones now who will do the training," Villar said.
Villar said she wants a school for every town in the Philippines.
"Anybody can go to this Villar Sipag Farm School as long as they are representative of the local government unit (LGU), representative or owner of farm school can come to learn as trainors," Villar said.
She clarified that they are not accepting ordinary farmers because these farmers will learn from the trainors of Villar Sipag Farm School.
The rice school is a two-week free training program. They will be trained under the program Training of Trainers on Production of High-Quality Inbred Rice and Seeds and Farm Mechanization in coordination with the Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center-Western Visayas and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Trainees are from the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Negros, Aklan, and Antique. (Leo Solinap/SunStar Philippines)