Kalinga youth awarded P.3M after topping 2022 Young Farmers Challenge

Tabuk City, Kalinga – A 30-year-old agriprenuer from Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga now has an additional budget to expand his enterprise and develop his technologies that would further enhance the production, autonomous operation, and efficient use of resources after he was awarded P300,000 cash grant for making it to the Top 12 Outstanding Agribusiness Models in the 2022 National Young Farmers Challenge (YFC).

The Solar-Powered Urban Fishery – High Density Production Module of Cris Reshon T. Guiral garnered the highest rating in the Production Category of said challenge, as announced during the 2nd National Young Farmers Summit and Awarding Ceremony held in Ilocos Norte on Thursday, December 15, 2022.

Guiral got P50,000 for winning at the provincial level in July and another P150,000 cash at the regional level before advancing to the national.

The finalists nationwide were evaluated by the national panel of judges in terms of their entrepreneurial attributes, innovativeness of business proposal, the potential for generating revenue stream, value addition, and social responsibility.

Who is the national awardee from Kalinga?

Guiral is a sociologist and a social worker by profession. He believes that social development starts with the food served on the table. His desire to help households through food security was among his motivation is joining the contest.

“I joined the Young Farmers' Challenge as an opportunity to get funding to further develop my Recirculating Aquaculture System, especially to establish a Solar Powered Electric System that could further enhance the production of the fish,” said the agripreneur.

Why Solar-Powered Urban Fishery – High Density Production Module (SURF – HDPM)

Asked why he chose SURF – HSPM as his entry, Guiral answered he was inspired by the high prices of fish and the shortage of pork supply in the market caused by unstable supply.

The SURF HDPM, he said, was initially an abandoned pigpen that was converted to a fishpond for tilapia production.

“However, the skyrocketing prices of electricity, the frequent electric power outage, and the soaring price of water commodity proved to be a challenge at first in operating a fishpond which is why I turned to recirculating aquaculture system that conserves big volume of water and to solar electric power that is a source of clean, renewable and stable source of electricity to power the system. The SURF HDPM hopes to provide a fresh, clean, cost-cheap, and healthy source of fish within the community,” he continued.

Every contestant in YFC, he described, is excellent and promising which is why he did not expect that he will win. It was a very tight competition, he added.

As to his edge, Guiral is confident that his enterprise is ‘grounded in social responsibility and anchored in moral obligation in helping the community.’

“This win is not my win but a win for the community I serve and for the Filipino people. This was made possible through the diligent and intelligent input of ideas of a lot of people from the fishery sector, from the staff of the Provincial and Regional Agriculture Office, from coaches, and from the experience of farmers,” expressed the outstanding agripreneur.

“This is a tribute to all the hardworking people in the agriculture sector especially to those that gave their lives in the line of duty and public service. For dreams are stronger than death,” he concluded.

Other winners

Other outstanding youth agribusiness models under the Production Category are Frugies de Locale and Am-Iyoung’s Yuyu Farm, both from Cordillera; Ali-lapia and Abanse: NPK, both from Region VI; and Grace Hills Vineyard and Vegetable Farm from Region XI.

Meanwhile, top performers under Processing Category are Green Banana Flour: The Next Superfood from Region XII, and Nutripage Food Products from Region IV-B while Icarus Agri-Tech from Region VI and AIRIN Innovations from Region II were adjudged the winners in Digital Agriculture Category.

Further, Taboan Agricultural Products Trading from Region VIII and Anita’s from Region VI topped in Supply Chain Business Solution Category.

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