Aggie grads back Young Farmers Program

The Young Farmers Program (YFP) launched four months ago by the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) is getting strong support from young graduates of agriculture and fisheries courses as well as budding entrepreneurs.

A brainchild of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., the program has received several project proposals, which are now being evaluated by the YFP review committee composed of representatives from the Senate committee on agriculture, the COCAFM, the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC), and the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor).

A total of 13 project proposals, which include agriculture or honeybee keeping, livestock projects, high-value crop production and other viable agribusiness ventures have already been approved by the review committee.

"The approval of a project proposal is based, among others on the viability and sustainability of the project, along with the marketability of the produce," Magsaysay, who chairs both the senate committee on agriculture and the COCAFM said.

The novel program has two components, namely: The Young Farmers Entrepreneurs (YFE) and the Young Farmers Volunteers (YFV).

The YFE focuses on the selection of agri-based project proposals from young graduates of agriculture and related courses for possible funding. Project proposals may be prepared from the shopping list of products with ready market provided by the Philippine Food Exporters (Philfoodex) and the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Marketing Assistance Service (DA-AMAS).

Magsaysay said that an individual YFE project may require a minimum of P50,000 to a maximum of P500,000 capitalization which may vary depending on the needed infrastructure and equipment. The total project cost will be distributed as follows: 15-percent equity, 25- percent grant and 60-percent loan. The YFP has P50-million initial budget.

The YFV, on the other hand, shall be chosen from various schools, colleges and universities to act as coordinators in each region. They shall undergo classroom and field training for a period of our weeks and then they will be deployed to the regions for six months.

"One of our goals is to create jobs and business opportunities in the countryside to minimize the migration of rural residents to the urban centers," Magsaysay said.

The YFP, Magsaysay said, hopes to infuse an army of young blood and youthful dynamism into an industry whose present workforce is, on the average, 67 years old.

"These young graduates will be injected with fresh ideas and idealism and will be equipped with appropriate skills, provided with financial assistance and production and marketing support, with the hope that they may prosper as entrepreneurs and become strong partners in nation building," he said.