Techno Pinoy rises in Lamitan, Basilan

A Farmers’ Information and Technology Service (FITS) center, popularly called Techno Pinoy Center, was launched on Mar. 14 in Sta. Clara, Lamitan, Basilan.

The center is housed at the Sta. Clara Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Integrated Development Cooperative (SCARBIDC) Training Center.

FITS is an information and technology delivery service facility where farmers, traders, processors, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders can access information and technologies in agriculture and natural resources.

Gracing the occasion was Lamitan Vice Mayor Jimmy Andong who praised the initiative and assured members of the SCARBIDC of the local government’s assistance.

Other key personalities present were Dr. Eduardo Holoyohoy, vice-chair, Regional Research and Development Coordinating Committee of the Western Mindanao Agriculture, Forestry and Resources Research and Development Consortium; Dr. Emilie C. Enriquez, consortium director; Mr. Domingo M. Narciso, SCARBIDC plantation manager; Mr. Suwaib S. Ismael, provincial agrarian reform officer; and Dr. Arturo S. Argañosa, assistant director of the PCARRD Technology Outreach and Promotion Division.

Also present were representatives from the provincial offices of the Department of Trade and Industry, DOST, local government units, Basilan State College, other agrarian reform beneficiaries’ cooperatives, rural improvement clubs, and nongovernmental organizations in the locality.

SCRABIDC is a plantation cooperative with 1,321 agrarian reform beneficiaries. Its area formerly belonged to the University of the Philippines Land Grant and was transferred to the members of the SCARBIDC in 1989.

It is presently engaged in rubber-based farming integrated with cash crops and coconut-based farming integrated with high-value fruit crops. It also operates a coconut oil mill with machineries funded by DOST. (Ofelia F. Domingo, S&T Media Service)