Make farming your business. This is a usual part of every message of Mayor Alexander Calucag of Solsona, Ilocos Norte during activities collaboratively conducted by MMSU and LGU-Solsona and attended by farmers in their municipality.

Recently, two trainings had been conducted in the municipality in part of the continuing effort of the University and its partner-agencies such as Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), Ilocos Agriculture, Aquatic, Resources Research and Development (ILAARRDEC) and other agencies, to mitigate the effects of climate change especially in the agriculture sector. These trainings were participated in by farmers from Brgy. Bagbag, Bagbago, and Barcelona, Solsona, Ilocos Norte. 

In his message, he expressed his gratitude to MMSU and its partner-agencies for their continuing support to the farmers in their municipality. There are times that some farmers hesitate to attend trainings and adopt the technology interventions taught to them because they believe these are just additional work for them.  But the Mayor stressed that these technologies are not disseminated unless they are tested and proven to be helpful to farmers in increasing their farm produce. 

Adding that everything applied and neglected will come to nothing, he encouraged the participants to become scientists themselves in their own ways. This is, according to him, by persistently trying different farming practices until relevant changes and effects are seen. He also added that continuous learning of ways to increase and produce quality farm harvests is necessary. 

‘May you not be discouraged when there are losses or when our crops and livestock do not grow as expected’, the mayor added. And to prove his point, he shared this experience in the use of effective microorganisms (EM) to his animals. He said that EM is magic since it eradicated the unwanted smell of the animal dung especially in concrete housing. 

Engr. Ranison Narciso, the Municipal Agriculturist of the same municipality also expressed the continuous support of their office to the farmers in their town. He then encouraged the farmers to practice the technologies shared to them to achieve their ultimate goal—to increase farm production. 

On the other hand, another training was conducted in the City of Batac and in the Municipality of Vintar, Ilocos Norte in the continuing project on Sustaining Crop Productivity in Climate Vulnerable Areas in Ilocos Norte through STCBF on Climate Resilient Technologies with MMSU-ILAARRDEC-PCAARRD, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte and cooperating LGUs such as Pasuquin, Vintar, Marcos, Piddig, Burgos, Solsona, and the City of Batac. Members of the Mabaleng Mapa SWIP Irrigator’s Association of Batac and the Marabanos-Kabisukolan Farmers’ Association of Vintar participated in said training, discussing the technologies in rice production, the technology interventions of the project to include selection of quality seeds, use of organic fertilizer, Bio-N, Carrageenan Plant Growth Regulator (CPGR), and others (KSM/MRG). 

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