Over P1M financial grant awarded as CAR kicks off expanded Young Farmer’s Challenge program

Baguio City, Philippines – Six youths who are into agribusiness are now entitled to over P1 million in financial grants from the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera after being chosen as winners of the recently debuted Expanded Young Farmers Challenge program.

The agency added two categories to the program just this year - the YFC Upscale and the Intercollegiate category.

The YFC-Upscale is for previous provincial and regional winners of the Young Farmer’s Challenge who have plans to elevate their business enterprise and who are monitored to have successfully implemented their business plans.

The intercollegiate competition, meantime, is for students of state universities and colleges in the region who are to present their business models related to agriculture.

Three of the eight competitors were chosen for the YFC-Upscale, which include Shawnie Dale Bitso (Sanagi Mushroom and Agri-tourism Farm), Radjih Andres (Highland Peppers), and Sherly Biase (Ag-kiing, Basilio’s Kiniing).

The said category assures them of getting a financial grant of P300,000 each, while Bitso, being the highest-rated, shall move on to the national competition and will have the chance to win a P500,000 cash grant.

For the intercollegiate category, a team of college students from the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC)-Tadian Campus were declared champions and will be receiving P150,000.

The school’s representatives were Sheimae Acab, Sheryl Bangcawayan, and Shannon Collado.

DA-Cordillera, in a press release, said the team’s planned enterprise is the Golden Shell Gourmet Product.

“Accordingly, the golden apple snail is one of the pests devastating rice fields, which results in low yields. Hence, they decided to make the snail beneficial by processing it into a delicacy. Additionally, it addresses the sustainable development goals of reducing poverty, zero hunger, and good health and well-being,” DA-Cordillera wrote.

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