The Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center conducted the Digital Agriculture Course for Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (DAC4RCEF) at Duran Farm Agribusiness and Training Center, Brgy. Basuit, San Ildefonso, Bulacan last April 18-20, 2023.

Mr. Aeron P. Bermudez, from ATI Central Luzon, discussed the highlights of the three-day Digital Agriculture Course while Mr. Alvin T. Burile graced the activity as he welcomed the participants of DAC4RCEF on behalf of Ms. Desiree D. Duran, owner of Duran Farm.

On Day 1, the session was focused on the DAC for RCEF 101 as it is the introductory course that encourages farmers to utilize smartphones, the internet basic ICT tools on rice, and social media marketing in promoting the activity to their farm schools and in promoting products in their farms. DAC for RCEF 101 includes a topic on Smartphone 101, Accessing the Internet, Internet Safety and Security, Basic Agri ICT Tool, and Social Media Marketing. Farmers were also experienced to take good photos as part of the challenge of the course to assess their skills in photography.

On its second day, DAC for RCEF 102 was the highlight of the session as the second course in the three-level program to encourage technologies in farming. The DAC for RCEF 102 is the second course of the RCEF digital literacy program that focuses on in-depth Advanced Agri Apps which includes applications that can help farmers and farm worker on their farm such as Binhing Palay, Leaf Color Computing App, Minus One Element Kit and App, e-Damuhan, AgriDOC App, and Rice Crop Manager Advisory Services. The day two session also focuses on Social Media Marketing which teaches farmers how to use social media in marketing as well as using Canva App to promote what courses and products are offered and available to their respective farms through media posters.

The day three session focused on creating their Social Media Marketing Plan and e-Commerce Platforms to plan a strategy, introduce their farms, and strongly promote their farms and products. The training also taught them how to use online transactions such as Maya and GCash for the easiest transactions such as paying bills and receiving payments for their farms.

“𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘢, 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘱𝘰 𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘵𝘰, 𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘺𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘣 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘬𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘯,” Mr. Honorio T. Alcantara said as he shared his learnings in the training.

As part of the activity in the course, special awards have been given to some of the participants. The Best Canva Poster awards were given to Ms. Marcela S. Balbon, Mr. Renzon J. De Guia, and Ms. Roselle Ann Marquez, and the People’s Choice Poster was awarded to Ms. Juieta Agbayani.

Mr. Aeron P. Bermudez, Ms. Mariel G. Baldoz, Mr. John Led Joaquin, and Ms. Meamette Y. Rosario served as the resource persons for the lecture discussion.

A total of 22 participants from 11 Learning Sites for Agriculture from Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, and Bulacan, have successfully completed the three-day course. (FB, RCEF Central Luzon)