The Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM), under the chairmanship of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., seeks to encourage young graduates of agriculture and other related courses as well as budding entrepreneurs to engage in agribusiness and become successful agribusinessmen.
"Our goal is to create jobs and business opportunity where these are needed most in the provinces. That I believe is the key to address poverty," Magsaysay said as he announced that more trainings are set to be conducted next year in various regions.
The recent training was conducted at Benguet State University (BSU) which was composed of nine agri-based training modules, namely: oyster mushroom growing, cultivation and banana mushroom spawn production, shiitake log cultivation, chayote production, poultry egg production, swine production, vegetable seedling production, colored callalily production, beekeeping and Arabica coffee processing.
The YFP has already trained a total of 158 participants, 56 are now actively and successfully operating their respective agribusiness projects. Total amount of grant released to beneficiaries reached P3.699 million while total loan granted amounted to more than P9 million. More loans and grants are being processed for those who have already completed their training and requirements.
Two beneficiaries of YFP have already fully paid their respective loans after one year. One is Brian Quirol of Baybay, Leyte who borrowed P180,000. Quirol maintains a nursery farm growing and selling planting material of fruit trees. He also engages in the production and marketing of mango.
The other YFP participant who has already fully paid his P100,000 loan is David Dumlao Jr. who raises ducks in Isabela.
Another success story is that of Mikhail Chavez, who went into papaya production in Oriental Mindoro with P180,000 loan. He is now regularly supplying chains of big supermarkets in Metro Manila.
"I believe that by providing them with full production support, along with additional technical know-how, capital and land area for production, young agriculture graduates and budding entrepreneurs could become successful agribusinessmen," Magsaysay said.
Those interested to join the YFP can contact Virgie Agcopra or Larry Villanueva at tel. nos. 552-3253 or 552-6601 local 5501 or Corrie Villarino at tel. no. 926-2241.