Press Release
February 9, 2009

Stimulus Agri-Fisheries College Students

Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, encourages incoming college students to enroll in agriculture and fisheries courses. In the Young Farmers Program bill that she is to file and hear this week, she seeks to provide scholarships under a socialized tuition fee scheme to all enrollees in the said courses.

"We have to shore up the diminishing enrollment in agriculture and fisheries courses in higher education institutions and replace our aging farmers with the youth who have new mindsets--open to new knowledge, entrepreneurial and most of all, willing to stay in the farm.", Legarda said.

The lady senator who also chairs the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) notes the disinterest of the youth in the countryside to continue the occupation of their parents. "They want to work in the city to see the other side of the world. Therefore we should also bring the amenities of the city to the rural areas right to the farms and fishfarms.

A great potion of our economic stimulus in the 2009 budget and beyond should be spent for electrification and road construction in the countryside.", Loren said.

In her travels to remote areas in the country, the senator observed, the young people in areas where there is no electricity go to town to charge their cellphones and use batteries for their televisions.

"Telecommunication is a great attraction of city life so we should endeavor to bring this close to our farmers and fishers' children. They are our hope in the sustained food production efforts of the country.", the senator added.

There are two Young Farmers Program bills that will be heard by the Senate Committee on Agriculture this week--one is that of Senator Antonio Trillanes which proposes to support the agribusiness ventures of agriculture and fisheries graduates and the other is that of Senator Legada which, in addition to the provision of entrepreneurial support, also seeks to provide scholarships in exchange of student assistance to the extension services of agricultural and fisheries colleges and universities and the municipal agricultural officers (MAOs).

"I am also inviting businesses and alumni associations in municipalities to channel their social responsibility budgets to the education of our farmers and fishers' children. Most of them are looking for development projects.

I think both government and the private sector should invest in this very urgent human resource development concern." Loren said.

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