2 agribusiness students qualify for the DA Young Farmer Challenge

Mr. Ismael V. Demakaling and Mr. Melvin T. Narra, both from the VSU Department of Business Management (DBM), were declared as provincial winners of the Young Farmer Challenge: Kabataang Agribiz here in Eastern Visayas.

Because of this, they will now be part of the 60 young agri-entrepreneurs who will be granted a competitive financial grant from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Mr. Demakaling is an alumnus of the Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness (BSAB) who recently graduated in September this year while Mr. Narra is also taking the same undergraduate program and is now in his senior year.

The Young Farmer Challenge: Kabataang Agribiz program is one of the many current initiatives of DA to engage the youth sector in food and agriculture undertakings to hopefully spark their interest in the field of agri-fishery enterprise.

The two Viscan winners attended in person the awarding ceremony that was held in Sophia’s Way, Resto-Bar in Tacloban City on October 4, 2021.

This same event was live streamed on Facebook via the official page of the DA regional office in Eastern Visayas.

The 60 young agri-entrepreneurs will each receive Php50,000.00. A total of 3 million pesos was allocated for all the 60 qualifiers of the said business model competition.

Mr. Demakaling shared that he will use the financial assistance as initial investment for his proposed broiler chicken production in his hometown.

“I wanted to establish this enterprise because I wanted to provide a better and comfortable way of living for my future family and children. At the same time, I wanted to contribute to the overall improvement of our country, especially in the area of agriculture,” he said.

Mr. Narra, on the other hand, revealed that he will use this grant to put up a three-hectare abaca plantation that he envisions to produce and manufacture different abaca by-products.

He then expressed his appreciation to the DA for launching such an innovative program that may potentially serve as a stepping stone for young agri-entrepreneurs in building their own startups.

“Kabataang Agribiz program aims to encourage young people like me to engage in the farming business. I’m sure that me and my co-qualifiers will be inspired to contribute in building our agriculture sector because of the help we got from DA,” Mr. Narea explained.

Among the 60 beneficiaries, 32 grantees were from Leyte, 16 from Southern Leyte, 6 in Samar, 2 each from the cities of Ormoc and Tacloban, and 1 recipient each coming from Eastern Samar and Biliran.

The Young Farmers Challenge is in line with DA’s effort in strengthening the agri-entrepreneurship capabilities of the country by investing in the young generation. By helping different agri-based enterprises, this opens as a viable alternative in developing sustainable income-generating avenues for the Filipino people.

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