By Edwin Fernandez | Philippine News Agency
COTABATO CITY — The mango industry in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is expected to become competitive after more than 300 mango farmers completed a four-month “School-on-the Air” training here.
The graduation ceremony for this batch of mango farmers was held on Monday and facilitated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform in BARMM (MAFAR-BARMM).
Dr. Mohammad Yacob, MAFAR minister, on Tuesday told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the farmers who successfully completed the course on mango flower induction technology ,as well as processing and marketing, were from the towns of Datu Paglas, Midtimbang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Datu Unsay Ampatuan, Guindulungan, Mamasapano, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, Sultan Mastura, and Talayan.
“Education is one of the keys to development. It is one of the ways to achieve our goals,” Yacob said as he emphasized the significance of education as one of the mandates of the MAFAR.
The mango farmers, after their graduation, have received farm inputs from MAFAR that included 50 kilograms of mango inducer (calcium nitrate), one set of mango power spray, one pruning pole, and one set of sound system for podcast and radio.
The farm inputs were distributed through the Municipal Agricultural Officers (MAOs) of the nine participating municipalities.
Dr. Kadiguia Rakman Abdullah, MAFAR Regional Agriculture and Fishery Information Division (RAFID) chief, said the farmers were elated with the assistance and the education they received.
Ali Kagi, one of the graduates, said that he learned a lot from the program.
“The knowledge I got from the program cannot be taken by anyone and I will use it to propagate mango production,” Kagi said.
The School-on-the Air program was aired from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. every Sunday from December 2018 to March 2019 at DXMS-AM Radyo Bida in this city.
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