Two SOAs beam in Northern Mindanao
by Rodolfo P. Estigoy, PhD (December 19, 2013)
Two School-on-the-Air programs on the Prevention of Mycotoxins in Corn were launched in Northern Mindanao in collaboration with two state colleges and universities.
The Misamis Oriental State College of Agriculture and Technology (MOSCAT) in Claveria, Misamis Oriental recently conducted the mass graduation of enrollees who listened to the program daily aired over MOSCAT radio for the whole month of October.
This program was the maiden educational broadcast conducted by MOSCAT. Some 126 enrolees who are mainly corn farmers successfully passed the course and were given certificates of participation and transistor radios as tokens for those who passed the course.
The event was held on November 22, 2013 at the MOSCAT Auditorium. The SOA on mycotoxin prevention was implemented by the Office of the Research, Development and Extension headed by Dr. Nelda Gonzaga.
On the other hand, another batch of SOA was launched at the Central Mindanao University in Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon. The launching was held during the celebration of the 3rd Research, Development and Extension week of the University. About 250 corn farmers from neighboring towns registered to take the course which will be aired through CMU radio in two months. Dr. Emmanuel Baltazar, CMU Extension Director was joined by PHilMech in the kick off activities held simultaneously with other events during the RDE week. Graduation is slated in the first quarter of 2014.
The conduct of SOAs at the local level to reach farmer producers is component of the bigger project entitled Enhancing the Extension Delivery System on Postharvest and Mechanization of SCUs and theTechno Gabay Program.