BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is bent on proving that farming is not “never fun”–and, on the contrary, is even lucrative.
In a seminar on Thursday, the DOT office in the Cordillera acquainted farmers in the highland region with the new concept of farm tourism, which officials described as actually fun.
“Fun farm tourism is an activity that allows tourists to have an experiential activity on farming by providing orientation, which encourages farmers to venture into an activity more than just producing, but also sharing the experience,” said Jovita Ganongan, officer-in-charge of DOT in Cordillera in an interview on Friday.
“The farmers will not just focus on productivity, but they will also come up with tourism activities in their farms, providing tours for their tourists, and educating them on how to do farming,” she enthused.
The DOT is pushing for farm tourism to benefit the farmers in terms of higher income, free education for themselves and their families, and ultimately food security for the whole country.
Earlier, Senator Cynthia Villar urged even the displaced miners in Benguet to shift livelihood to agriculture, including farm tourism, to boost their income.
Villar was one of the proponents of the Farm Tourism Law, which was passed in 2016.
The law defines farm tourism as “the practice of attracting visitors and tourists to farm areas for production, educational, and recreational purposes.”
It involves any agricultural or fishery-based operation or activity that brings to a farm visitors, tourists, farmers, and fisherfolk, who want to be educated and trained in farming and its related activities.
The tourism farm also provides a venue for outdoor recreation and accessible family outings.
“The concept of farm tourism is new, even if we already have two accredited farm tourism sites here in the Cordillera. We have the Cosmic farm in Benguet and the
Layug farm in Mountain Province,” the tourism official cited.
Ganongan said farm tourism sites are classified into two–one provides room accommodation or homestays, and another is for a day farm, which only conducts fun and educational tourism activities during the day and does not provide accommodation.
She said the DOT has started accrediting farm tourism destinations nationwide and disseminating the information to all provinces, especially as the concept is now a priority and regular program of the department.
In accrediting farm tourism sites, Ganongan explained: “We also need to consider the safety and security of the farm tourism sites–how good their services are, especially the experience and satisfaction that they are providing the tourists.”
She said the DOT assesses and monitors the programs and services being offered by the facilities for quality.
Farm tourism is expected to give farmers a competitive edge in their agricultural production because of added knowledge and more potential buyers and traders for their produce, apart from the income that goes with the activity.
To further trumpet the “good news,” DOT Secretary Bernadette-Romulo Puyat earlier said her department is pushing for farm tourism in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Puyat said she had handled the DA’s program on farm tourism, when she was Assistant Secretary of Agriculture prior to her appointment to the DOT’s top post. **Pamela Mariz Geminiano/ PNA
