Traversing through the rough terrain and trekking through the rough uphill trails to serve underprivileged Negrenses 

Central Philippines State University Farmer-to-Farmer Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow (CPSU F2F ALOFT) and the Philippine Red Cross Bacolod Chapter conducted site assessments for potential project beneficiaries at Upper Ballo last October 10.

Under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – funded, CPSU and University of Tennessee - Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture F2F ALOFT program, Mr. James Hunt, a volunteer expert on the Drip Irrigation System accompanied the team for an ocular inspection in search for prospect Drip Irrigation System model’s beneficiary farmer. 

According to Mr. Reynic Alo, ALOFT Philippines Country Coordinator, four models being foreseen to be installed soon three of which are situated within the Campus as a potential source for community and climate-relevant research studies, and one will be household-based for a chosen partner farmer which will be a model for replicable water conservation and sustainable irrigation. 

“I think they should look forward to an option that most of them probably have never heard about which hopefully, the ALOFT program and I could make the learning curve not challenging. We’ll try to keep it simple because everything we demonstrate here, we want the farmers to have a hands-on experience for them to learn and eventually, to be comfortable of—making an investment especially in applying what they learn into their own farming spaces,” said Mr. Hunt about what grassroots farmers should look forward to for the Drip Irrigation System project. 

The F2F ALOFT program team continues to emphasize that apart from the technical and material support that it will provide, one of its primary aims is the integration of capacity-building for local farmers by simplifying the technicalities of the agricultural systems it will introduce into understandable and operational components. 

Meanwhile, the Ph Red Cross Bacolod headed by Chapter Administrator Ms. Rita Benita Mirasol, continued their site assessment for their “Bridging Rural Infrastructure Development for Growth and Empowerment: A Strategic Partnership Initiative” project which first kicked off last August 15. 

The Upper Ballo site visit was conducted to look for deserving project recipients who will be granted water catchment systems to provide them convenient access to clean water for domestic use. 

In addition, sanitation facilities and reliable energy systems will also be provided to the chosen underprivileged households to provide them with more livable and comfortable situations despite residing in a far-flung area like Upper Ballo—the success of its implementation being a model project for more communities with the foresight of addressing immigration into urban areas through rural development. 

The organization previously assessed project sites for its partnership with CPSU, integrating training for disaster risk management and calamity response especially in making their beneficiary community into a disaster response-ready community. 

CPSU continues to build partnerships with local and international bodies to introduce leading technologies for the advancement of the university and the development of the community.