Quezon City – Turkey, a rich Muslim nation ranked No. 7 among the top agricultural producers in the world, yesterday accepted a proposal by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for a Joint Exchange Program to train and expose leaders and farmers of the Bangsamoro Region to modern agriculture in that country.
Turkey Ambassador to the Philippines Artemiz Sumer, who called on the Philippine Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in the DA Central Office yesterday, said she was happy with the proposal and agreed to start the Exchange Program by September this year.
Under the Joint Exchange Program proposed by the DA Secretary, local executives from the Bangsamoro Region, agriculturists and farmer leaders will undergo a short course of about 7 days in Turkey which would include exposure to the modern agricultural areas of the country.
“The best way to influence the mindset of our leaders and farmers on agriculture is to expose them to good examples and benefits of modern farming technology and the best way to do this is to show them how a Muslim country has become the 7th largest agricultural producer in the world,” the Agriculture Secretary told the Turkey Ambassador.
The DA Secretary emphasised that the Governors and Mayors must be involved in the Exchange Program because they could serve as the catalyst of agricultural modernisation in their areas when properly oriented on the benefits of modern farming technology.
The DA Secretary said he has informed Chief Minister Ahod Murad Embrahim of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) of the program through Finance Minister Eduard Guerra.
As agreed, the scholars in the Exchange Program would be in five batches representing five provinces within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
As each batch of scholars go home to their province, the Turkey Government through the Turkey International Cooperation Agency (TICA) will conduct follow through programs to ensure that what the scholars learned in their Short Course in Agriculture in Turkey would be applied in their farms.
The main focus of the program would be trainings on grains production, dairy farming, cattle and goat raising targeting the huge Halal market not only in the Philippines but also in the Middle East.
Both the DA Secretary and Ambassador Sumer agreed to prepare their own version of the draft implementing guidelines of the Exchange Program which when finalised may be signed by August this year.
(Photos of the visit of Turkey Ambassador Artemiz Sumer to the DA Secretary’s Office taken by Gian Carlo Luage, DA AFID.)
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