AGRI BOOST. The Department of Agriculture in Bicol Region (DA-5) will convene 250 leaders of farmers' cooperatives and associations for the Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation (F2C2) Program summit in Naga City on Dec. 1-3, 2023. Aside from the plenary sessions, 24 farmers' cooperatives and associations invited by the DA will display various agricultural products for sale. (Infographic courtesy of DA-Bicol)
LEGAZPI CITY – The Department of Agriculture in Bicol (DA-5) will convene 250 leaders of farmers' cooperatives and associations (FCAs) for a summit on Dec. 1 to 3 that will provide a platform for farmers and fishers to build stronger linkages to potential markets.
"They are the farmers from different provinces in the region that are engaged in various commodities such as rice, corn, vegetables, pili, pineapple, cacao, coconut, livestock and poultry,” DA-5 spokesperson Lovella Guarin said in an interview on Wednesday.
Guarin said that in collaboration with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI-RTC 5) and the Department of Trade in Industry (DTI)-Camarines Sur, provincial and municipal agriculturists and commodity coordinators have been invited to the Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation (F2C2) Program summit in Naga City.
Guarin said farm clustering and consolidation is a strategy of the DA to level up the agriculture sector.
"Clustered and consolidated farmers are the priority in the distribution of DA interventions such as farm inputs, tools and farm equipment and machinery; installation of irrigation facilities; and establishment of post-harvest and processing facilities," she said.
Guarin also said meetings with various government agencies and the private sector are also being done to level up updates, projects and programs for future interventions and support services for the clustered groups.
DA-Bicol record shows there are 25 rice clustered farms, 61 corn and cassava clustered farms, 31 high-value crops clustered and 11 livestock-clustered farms in the region.
During the summit, she said training on digital marketing, market matching, investment opportunities, product demand, quality specifications and standards will also be presented by key market players and institutional buyers in the region.
Aside from the plenary sessions, 24 FCA exhibitors invited by the DA will display various agricultural products for sale.
The DTI-Camarines Sur has invited 11 exhibitors from FCAs, one from the academe and 29 entrepreneurs for the event. (PNA)
