The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The SM Group’s charity work arm SM Foundation recently launched its 146th Rural Farmers’ Training Project in Barangay San Pablo, Ormoc City with 240 participants composed of farmers and beneficiaries of the government’s 4Ps program.
The 12-week training program commenced last August 4 and will continue until the scheduled Harvest Festival and graduation Ceremony on October 24 and 25.
The demo farm is a 5,000 sq. meter lot owned by the family of Ormoc Vice-Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin located across the City Agriculturist Office was lent to the KSK Training Program administration.
An orientation held a week earlier gave the participants an overview of the program. Present during the orientation were Aliver Idano, Community Driven Enterprise Development DSWD FO8; Francisco Dayap ; OIC Regional DA; Jason Fabillar, Agri II, APCO FO8; Maria Elena Mendoza,Acting City Agriculturist; Arsenio “Toto” Barcelona, President, HarBest Agribusiness Corp.; Jovel Grand Marquez and Easter Ann Alorro, field instructors; Ormoc City Vice Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin; City Councilor Tomas, Committee Chair on Agriculture & Fisheries; Rod Robles, SM Savemore Tacloban Store Manager; and Marlon Tan, SM Savemore Tacloban Mall Manager.
The participants cultivate sili, lettuce, green leafy vegetables, and pinakbet vegetables, honeydew and watermelon.
These produce will be featured in the Harvest Festival. The Rural Farmers’ Training Program is being undertaken in collaboration with project partners DSWD, DA, Harbest Agribusiness Corporation, the Ormoc local government, and SM Malls located in Tacloban.
The farmers’ training program aims to provide trainings on new organic farming technologies for production of organic high-value crops; conduct capability-building activities for the participants to learn entrepreneurial skills; provide linkages to possible market such as the SM Markets; and facilitate replication of learnings to their fellow farmers and other interested individuals.
Since 2007, the KSK Program has graduated more than 15,300 small farmers, agribusiness entrepreneurs, and agriculturists from the LGUs. The program has covered 124 sites all over the country where SM malls and SM Markets are located.