Farmers hold harvest festival, get set for production expansion
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO— The SM Foundation Inc., together with Harbest Agribusiness Corp., led the “Harvest Festival” in Barangay Maimpis here in celebration of the graduation of farmers under the training program hosted by both com pani es.
Some 84 farmers from the City of San Fernando’s farming communities completed the 12-week training under SM Foundation’s Kalabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) farmer’s training progr am.
The farmers were trained on different methods and technologies for effective backyard farming by the foundation’s program partner, Harbest Agribusiness Corporation.
Farm products produced by the trainees were harvested and cooked as part of the festival. Mayor Edwin Santiago and Vice-Mayor Jimmy Lazatin joined in the celebration. The trainees were able to produce high-quality eggplants, watermelon, honeydew, chili and cucumber through the organic farming practices in the KSK training.
The SM Foundation’s KSK program, which was launched on January 24, aims to help the farmers improve their skills and knowledge on farming and harvesting by giving them a season-long training.
This is also in partnership with the Harbest Agribusiness Corporation, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Social Welfare and Development.
SM Foundation AVP for Outreach Programs Cristie Angeles said that the graduates are the 156th batch under the KSK program.
In an interview, Mayor Edwin Santiago said it is important that farmers should know the good farming practices to achieve sustainable agriculture.
He urged Fernandinos to engage in farming to ensure the food security in the community.
“Agriculture is a priority of the city that is why we are conducting various programs for farmers to boost their production,” Santiago said.
Ready for expansion
From being a small time backyard farmer, Jason Garcia is now ready to expand his farming and vegetable-selling livelihood after he successfully capped-off his 12-week KSK training program.
Garcia, who currently operates a small “talipapa” business in Barangay Del Carmen, is one of the newest beneficiaries and is part of the Batch 156 of SM Foundation’s KSK program.
“I was tapped by our City Agriculture Office to be part of the SM training program. Currently, I am engaged in selling some vegetables like eggplants and tomatoes in front of our house along the barangay road. All my products are freshly harvested from my small farm in our lawn,” Garcia shared.
He noted that the KSK-hosted training and seminars imparted them knowledge on the proper farming and harvesting method which is expected to boost their production and improve the quality of their products.
“There was a lot of new information during the 12-week program. We were taught about the right seedlings to plant in different orientation, the proper spacing to follow in each seedling and the appropriate fertilizer to use to ensure that our crops will be in best quality,” he said.
“From a farming enthusiast who only considers this as hobby and extra livelihood, I can now say that I am part of the contemporary farmers that practice modern techniques,” Garcia furthered.
SM City Pampanga Public Relations Manager Rain Cervantes said that Garcia is just one of the 84 farmers who were tapped to be part of this year’s KSK Rural Farmers’ Training Program held at Ansel Farm in Barangay Maimpis here.