SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) in Antique has established 40 Barangay Agriculture Information Centers (BAICs), the highest among the provinces of Western Visayas.
“The BAICs are intended to provide farmers with access to information primarily on new farming technologies,” Arlene Edna La Vega, OPA information officer/farm-caster, said on Thursday.
“We first established BAICs in the barangays in the municipality of Anini-y in 2015,” she said. After that they set up information centers in other Antique towns such as Tobias Fornier, Hamtic, San Jose de Buenavista, Sibalom, Barbaza, and Tibiao.
OPA found it necessary to establish the BAICs even with the presence of the Provincial Farmers Information and Technology Center down to the municipal level.
La Vega said in coordination with the Municipal Agriculture Offices, they requested for a corner inside barangay halls where they could put up shelves for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) information, education, and communication (IEC) materials and tarpaulins, which the farmers could read.
“Through the IEC materials, the farmers would become aware of the new farming technologies from DA, which they could adopt,” she said.
Some of the IEC materials, printed in local dialects and English, are given for free to the farmers.
“The BAIC is being managed by a barangay official who is the chairman of their committee on agriculture,” she added.
La Vega also monitors the BAICs quarterly to make sure there are still IEC materials available.
She received a Certificate of Award during the 1st Quarter Department of Agriculture Family Information Officers’ Meeting held on March 2 and 3 at Damires Hills in Janiuay, Iloilo.
She said with the award she would strive hard for other municipalities to also be able to establish BAICs for the benefit of the farmers.(PNA)
