An organic agriculture farmer from Tuba, Benguet, Romeo A. Kimbungan, has made it to the final list in the search for the nation’s Gawad Saka Outstanding Organic Agriclutre Farmer.
The National Technical Committee (NTC) evaluators consisting of Director Karen S. Bautista of the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), Yolanda L. Abrina of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Fe Bien R. Garcia of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Regina Guia M. Cedro of the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP), Jenny Lyn DG. Anana of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) , and Mark F. Matubang of BAFS, visited Kimbungan’s farm and processing center in Tuba and La Trinidad, Benguet last July 20-21.
According to Matubang, the purpose of the field validation is to verify whether the data he submitted during the evaluation are true and at the same time to see the potentials of his farm. With an average score of 87.17% during the pre-evaluation, he ranked 1st among the top 3 finalists.
After the field validation, all the members of the team will meet again to discuss and compute all the scores gathered. Further, they will consolidate the results from the desk evaluation to the field evaluation and will deliberate who deserves the spot. The result is expected by September this year.
“We were able to witness the passion of Kimbungan in organic farming, his technical knowledge and his managerial skills despite how tedious organic farming is,” Abrina stated.
If ever he will bring home the bacon, Kimbungan would have the honor to be the 3rd National awardee from the municipality of Tuba. He believes in saving the farms for the next generation. Thus he perseveres in maintaining his farm the organic way. He was an awardee during the 2017 Regional Agriculture Achievers’ Awarding Ceremony last June 29, 2017 held at the Supreme Hotel, Baguio City conducted by the Department of Agriculture Cordillera.
According to Kimbungan, being recognized as a Gawad Saka achiever in agriculture by the government is a great honor. It also helps us in our quest to improve our livelihood and economic status, he said.** Leny Mendoza
