A total of 125 local farmers, Municipal Agricultural Office employees, faculty members, and staff benefited from the series of trainings conducted by the College of Agriculture (CA) – SLUC on the production of banana, off-season tomato and pepper, and mushroom. The training was held at the CA training centers and demonstration farms on June to July 2021.

Farmers and municipal agricultural employees who participated in came from the towns of Aringay, Agoo, Sto. Tomas, and Rosario, La Union.

Ultimately aimed at helping farmers generate higher yield and income, the trainings were designed following lecture, hands-on, and field trip structure to ensure successful knowledge transfer.

Specifically for the banana production training which was held at the Rosario Campus and Lakatan Farm on June 23, 2021, 38 trainees joined in. The training included lectures on farming and prospects of banana production; propagation, planting, fertilization, care, maintenance, and disease control; and harvesting, packing, and storing of banana provided by Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI)- Baguio.

Meanwhile, trainings on off-season tomato and pepper and mushroom production were held on July 27 and 28, 2021, respectively. Forty-two (42) participants who were trained on off-season tomato and pepper production held on July 27 were escorted to the successful vegetable farmers in Damortis, Sto. Tomas, La Union after their lectures on seed or variety selection and nursery management, land preparation, plastic mulch installation, transplanting and trellising, fertilizer management, insect pests and disease management, and maturity indices and harvesting of the vegetables.

Likewise, 45 participants successfully completed the training on mushroom production which covered topics on spawn production and mushroom production technologies. After the lecture, the participants were brought for a hands-on exercise and field trip at the farm of successful mushroom growers in Nagtagaan, Rosario, La Union.

The series of trainings were made possible through the collaborative initiative of CA Dean Gaudelia Villanueva, BPI- Banana Project focal person Ms. Nancy Aspuria, CA extension facilitator Mr. Ferdinand Navarro, and the hardworking faculty members and extension workers of the College. Strict health protocols were implemented during the trainings. (Ronald Bustos)