Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz – The Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice), through its Infomediary Campaign, trained secondary
school agriculture teachers on “Climate-smart agriculture and rice production.”
The training, in partnership
with the Department of Education’s Technical-Vocational Unit, used the Climate-Smart
Agriculture (CSA) module developed by the Infomediary Campaign to incorporate
climate change as a component of major agriculture subjects in
technical-vocational schools.
The training focused on
climate change-ready rice production practices with emphasis on crop
diversification and establishment of rice gardens showcasing top varieties in
their area.
Teachers were also taught to
produce high-quality seeds to address the issue of inadequate access to
high-quality seeds in remote rice-farming communities.
The module was developed in
2014 through a partnership between PhilRice through its Infomediary Campaign
and CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
The training started on April
6 and ended on May 8. Teachers from 100 TecVoc schools nationwide as well as
some non-TecVoc schools were invited to participate.
“We hope that massive
informative awareness on CSA can be made possible through this initiative. We
already have thousands of infomediaries nationwide. We are eager to increase
their number,” said Jaime A. Manalo IV, Infomediary Campaign lead.
Since the national
implementation of Infomediary in 2013, the Infomediary team has been providing
training and technical assistance to secondary school agriculture teachers in
teaching rice production.
His team’s study on high
school students’ knowledge and understanding on climate change in relation to
agriculture confirms that young people are aware of the threats that it can
bring to food production, particularly on rice. Surveyed students considered
extreme dryness of the land as the most observable change happening in the rice
field.
“The training, through the
help of secondary school agriculture teachers, will help enrich the knowledge
of students’ knowledge and understanding of the effects of climate change on
rice production,” Manalo said.
“We also aim to bring back
the love for science of rice farming among young people and convince them to
consider agriculture when they enter the university,” he added. (PhilRice)
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