CELEBRATING MILESTONES IN AGRI AND PROPERTY SECTORS

IT’S the time of the year when many organizations hold thanksgiving events to honor their stakeholders and award perform

Last month, the 10th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards were bestowed upon 10 entries to the country’s longest-running search for the most outstanding stories, photos and broadcast programs in the agricultural sector.

“Aging Farmers” by Jujemay Awit, Cherry Ann Lim and Rianne Tecson of SunStar Cebu bagged the Agriculture Story of the Year award. The two-part special report discussed how farmers are getting older each year while the younger generation is turning its back on agriculture. It also examined efforts of the government and the academe to make farming a viable and sustainable option for young Filipinos.

Photojournalist Erwin Mascarinas of SunStar Cagayan de Oro won the Agri Photo of the Year award for his entry titled, “Between Herons and Farming.”

For the Best Agri News Story awards, Freddie Lazaro of the Manila Bulletin and Karlston Lapniten of the Baguio Chronicle received the prizes for the national and regional categories, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Best Agri Features Story national and regional awards went to Rizaldy Comanda of the Manila Bulletin and Mary Grace Nidoy of PhilRice Magazine, respectively.

- dia, the winner for the Best Agri Radio Program/ Segment award was “Agri- Tayo,” hosted by Ariel Tejada of DWCI-FM Ilocos Norte, while “Governor Generoso Special,” produced by Karren Montejo of ABS-CBN Davao, garnered the Best Agri TV Program/Segment award.

Presented annually over the past decade by PMFTC Inc., the Bright Leaf Awards’ board of judges voted for an article on by-products commercialization, written by Ian Ocampo Flora of SunStar Pampanga, as “Tobacco Story of the Year” and a photograph by Erwin Beleo of Tempo, featuring a farmer preparing for crop harvest in La Union, as “Tobacco Photo of the Year.”

“Bright leaf” is the alternative name for Virginia tobacco because it turns into a bright shade of yellow when cured with intense heat. The search for the country’s best agri-journalists and photojournos is named after this plant

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