SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ – Equipped with educational materials and paraphernalia featuring the selected matured agri-fisheries technologies of Central Luzon State University, Agri Aral Tekno Mobil conducted its first series of roadshow in Nueva Ecija from March 22-25, 2022.

A total of 138 participants consist of farmers, women, mushroom growers, LGU extension workers, and local officials joined Lakbay AgriATM: Agri, Set, Go! Roadshow – Nueva Ecija.

Carried by the AgriATM Van, the program’s experts and staff went to Barangay Sto. Domingo, Talugtug, Brgy. Bugnan, Gabaldon, Brgy. Sinasajan, Peñaranda, and Brgy. Cabaducan East, Nampicuan in four consecutive days and reached the locales by free trainings on the production and business in goat, mushroom, organic farming, and tilapia.

“Ito na ang pagkakataon natin upang makabawi tayo [mula sa pandemya]…salamat sa mga taga DA at sa CLSU sa sapat na kaalaman para tayo ay magkaroon ng hanapbuhay” said Pacifico B. Monta, municipal mayor of Talugtug in his welcoming remarks.

Dr. Jonathan L. Galindez, AgriATM program leader and director of Ramon Magsaysay Center for Agricultural Resources and Environment Studies (RM CARES) talked about the benefits of organic farming in the environment, meanwhile, Neal Del Rosario, director of Small Ruminant Center (SRC) discussed the value of goat as source of income.

In mushroom production,Bismark Francisco, researcher of Center for Tropical Mushroom Research and Development (CTMRD) shared the process of growing kabuteng bulaklak or Pleurotus florida and some of its recipes as income source, and Dr. Emmanuel Vera Cruz, director of Freshwater Aquaculture Center (FAC) shared his expertise on tilapia production.

The Roadshow also promoted the AgriATM website, www.agriatm.com to the participants by registering and conducting demo inside the van.

This website serves as a one-stop hub information of CLSU matured agri-fisheries technologies with downloadable easy-to-read materials and educational videos, and also houses the electronic modules on goat, mushroom, organic farming, and tilapia created by the experts.

In her message, Dr. Cynthia Divina, Curriculum Development head of AgriATM, encouraged the participants to register in the website to access the e-modules, especially in downtimes after the activities in the farm for example.

Dr. Divina compared the website to the social media app Facebook, but instead of accessing “other people’s businesses”, AgriATM website has “educational content to better [their] livelihoods”. 

Included in the e-modules are the quizzes that are automatically recorded in the system to gauge the visitors’ knowledge of the commodities, and also a user-friendly interface to have a more interactive learning experience.

For the participants with low to no internet access, the program prepared and gave printed modules to be returned with answers and to be checked by AgriATM to see if they passed or failed.

The program will select and screen more than a hundred beneficiaries of startup kits of selected four commodities among the passers in both online and offline versions of modules.

AgriATM will continue its Roadshows in Tarlac and Pampanga as part of its original program plan.