With over 500 participants from the public and private sectors, Victorias City Government successfully hosted the first-ever Agriculture Summit 2023, Oct. 2, at the City Sports and Amusement Center.
“We are gathered here today because our journey in agriculture is not just about growing but about growing together,” Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said in his message.
The City Mayor urged everyone to work together to ensure that the agriculture sector in the city and in the province is poised for sustainable growth and prosperity, nurturing not only the fields but also the bonds of community that make the city’s agricultural heritage strong and resilient.
Themed “Ensuring Food Security & Food Justice” the Agricultural Summit featured distinguished resource speakers from the academe, province, and regional office.
Agriculture Systems International Inc. Founding Farmer and CEO of AGREA, Cherrie Atilano was the keynote speaker of the event and discussed prospects, opportunities, and challenges in organic agriculture.
This summit aims to provide participants with a general outlook, priorities, and direction of agriculture in the city, province, and region, in relation to the national priority of ensuring food security and proper nutrition as emphasized in the Philippine Development Plan for 2023-2028.
The participants were grouped into six sectors in the breakout session which focused on different aspects of agriculture namely; Crop Production, Fishery and Aqua Production, Poultry and Livestock Production, Agri Product Processing and Logistics, Agri Products Marketing, and Agri Products and Food Regulations.
After the breakout session, sector representatives presented their identified problems and solutions based on their given topics.
Notable key resource speakers included DA-RFOVI Regional Technical Director Engr. Jose Albert Barrogo, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist OIC Dr. Dina Gensola, Provincial Veterinary Office OIC Dr. Placeda Lemana.
At the end of the summit, the City Agriculture Office distributed Mokusaku liquid fertilizer and vermicast to selected participants who stayed until the end of the program.
The Agriculture Summit 2023 was jointly organized by the City Agriculture Office headed by OIC-City Agriculturist Leni Lacuesta, the City Veterinarian Office headed by the City Veterinarian Dr. John Michael Cabuguason , DVD, and the City Planning and Development Office headed by City Planning and Development Coordinator Dr. Evangeline Alo. (PR)