BOAC, MARINDUQUE. Less fortunate individuals in Marinduque Philippines can now avail of free technical-vocational training in Agricultural Crops Production NCII plus a myriad of benefits by enrolling at the AGREA Farm School through TESDA’s Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA) program.Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, UAQTEA grants free tuition to students of all state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country. The same law applies to high s...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. AGREA Farm School and Assessment Center now offers short-term scholarships in two organic agriculture competencies: Producing Organic Fertilizers and Raising Organic Small Ruminants under the Special Training for Employment Program (or STEP) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).This new offering at the AGREA Farm School for October to November 2019 intake is made possible by the TESDA Provincial Office in Marinduque and the Office of Marinduque Re...  Read More...

Scaling the impact of your agriculture research together with business. When: 4-5 November 2019* Where: Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Headquarters, Los Baños, Philippines *Exact timing TBCThe fragmentation of different sources of research expertise in ASEAN makes it difficult for valuable findings to be applied in agriculture value chains. To address this issue, Grow Asia established the Grow Asia Learning Alliance (GALA) &nda...  Read More...

The challenges of global markets, more complex supply chains, and stringent regulations highlight the potential for technology solutions in the agricultural space.Partners at the Leaders and Entrepreneurs in Agriculture Forum 2018 highlighted how agriculture stakeholders can approach technological solutions to solve these problems. While there are advanced plays that might suit more established agribusinesses, it should be noted that different levels of technology are available to suit smaller a...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. The first of its caliber in the Province of Marinduque, the AGREA Farm School accumulated a total of 31,088 training hours in Organic Agriculture Production NCII in 2018. AGREA produced 134 graduates that year!   Read More...

WEDNESDAY, 19 JUNE 2019. More than 130 Marinduque residents, including local fishermen, 4Ps beneficiaries, and farm school students, get free skills training in basic life support, hands-only CPR, and first aid training.Fifteen cardiologist and internist volunteer doctors from The Medical City Cardiovascular Institute and Department of Internal Medicine trained our kababayans for free in three separate locations: Luxor Resort and Restaurant, Pangi Covered Court, and AGREA Farm Estate.LEARNING BY...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. It was a groundbreaking Independence Day when a solar water pump was installed and turned-over by AGREA to one of its farming communities in Kulilis, Torrijos on 12 June 2019. With El Niño made worst by the adverse effects of climate change, this initiative of AGREA is relevant and needed more than ever. For this year alone, AGREA’s partner farmers in Marinduque have lost a year’s worth of turmeric harvest, because of the lack of an efficient water syste...  Read More...

San Isidro along with all other neighboring municipalities are facing a big challenge of food security. The influx of tourists has led to a high demand of products that have brought the costs of basic goods to a level never seen before. Since then, the criminality has risen especially crimes against property. The entire island of Siargao depends on the import of food products that come from the mainland.   Read More...

One of the best, and cheapest, drought-resistant measures for gardens is applying mulch. Mulched gardens grow healthier, have more fertile soil, have fewer weeds, and have an overall enhanced visual appeal. A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. When done properly, mulching allows us gardeners to spend less time watering, weeding, and fighting pest problems. READ: Take the Organic Agriculture NCII Course at the AGREA Farm SchoolHere are some of the functions and...  Read More...

The Forerunners  It all started with a call from Ms. Alyannah Lagasca, the President of the Empower Alumni Community saying that they have slots through Keep Hope Alive (KHA) for interested attendees of the Leaders and Entrepreneurs in Agriculture Forum (LEAF) 2018 powered by Agrea Philippines, that the Team ALAB took their chances of joining and winning the Young Agri-preneurs pitch last September 30, 2018 in Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City. ALAB, a group of young promising leade...  Read More...

e-Magsasaka is a group of young Filipinos who share the same passion and vision in improving the current state of Philippine agriculture. They are composed of Jose Gabriel Dimalanta, CEO; Aaron Franz David, Head of Operations; Reaiah Joy Sarmiento, Head of Marketing, EJ Tamayo, Business Analyst, and Glenn Bueno, Technical Manager. Through their knowledge, skills, and experience, they are committed to help smallholder farmers in the Philippines.Here are some of the group’s accomplishments i...  Read More...

MAJAYJAY, LAGUNA. Lead trainers from AGREA Farm School and Assessment Center, together with ATI Learning Site cooperators and TESDA Farm School trainers from all over the Philippines, passed the competency assessment for Agroentrepreneurship NC II and Agroentrepreneurship NC III.“This is the powerhouse lead batch of Agroentrepreneurship NCII and NCII passers in the Philippines. They are among the very first certified agri entrepreneurs in the whole country,” says Keneth de Graci...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. The Department of Tourism (DOT) MIMAROPA underscores farm tourism as one of the fastest growing sectors in the Philippines, and with this announced the accreditation of three local farms as the first DOT-accredited agri-tourism farm sites in Marinduque and MIMAROPA.The first and newest DOT-accredited agri-tourism farm sites are (1) AGREA Farm Estate in Brgy. Cawit, (2) DMDC Farm in Brgy.   Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. Deserving scholarship applicants who are willing to take a full 28-day Organic Agriculture Production (OAP) NCII training at the AGREA Farm School are also entitled to financial assistance and book allowance. The AGREA Farm School, through the support of TESDA Marinduque Provincial Office, delivers expanded student assistance to willing and deserving Organic Agriculture Production (OAP) NCII scholarship applicants in the Province of Marinduque. The Private Education S...  Read More...

The AGREA Farm School, through the support of TESDA Marinduque Provincial Office, delivers expanded student assistance to willing and deserving Organic Agriculture Production (OAP) NCII scholarship applicants in the Province of Marinduque. The Private Education Student Financial Assistance (PESFA) program is one form of assistance to students in private education under Republic Act 6728, otherwise known as “Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education A...  Read More...

For the fourth consecutive time since the farm school opened in November 2017, 100% of the newest batch of graduate students at the AGREA Farm School pass the Organic Agriculture Production assessment. All 25 graduates from the AGREA Farm School get passing competency remarks for Organic Agriculture Production National Certification (OAP NCII) last 2-4 July 2018. This qualifies all 25 of them as Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-certified Organic Agriculture Farme...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. AGREA continues to support the aims and objectives of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in capacitating and strengthening rural-based organizations (RBOs) such as Japan Agricultural Exchange Council Alumni Association (JAECAAP) and International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE).Attended by RBO representatives from almost all regions in the country, a five-day organizational management strengthening program was conducted at the DMDC Farm in Boac, Marinduque on 25-29 June 2018....  Read More...

AGREA 1000 Strong is an innovative and inclusive community of volunteers with a big heart: male and female youth leaders, teachers and educators, mothers, senior citizens, Overseas Filipino Workers, members of the LGBT+ community, and farming and fisherfolk leaders. Cultivation of Human BeingsBased in the island province of Marinduque in the Philippines, AGREA 1000 Strong has a social mission of cultivating human beings through volunteer work consistent with AGREA's Eight Thrusts (i.e.,...  Read More...

It is interesting to find out that not a lot of Filipinos know about this law. According to Section 8 of Republic Act No. 10176, otherwise known as the Arbor Day Act of 2012, “All able-bodied citizens of the Philippines, who are at least twelve (12) years of age, shall be required to plant one (1) tree every year.” Now, how many trees have you missed planting since you were 12 years old? Arbor Day 2018 in MarinduqueToday, the 23rd day of June 2018, AGREA celebrates Nat...  Read More...

AGREA has been recognized as one of the winners of the Inaugural ASEAN Social Impact Awards in Singapore. AGREA is one of the Top 3 winners among 160 applications from across the Southeast Asian Region. This is the second recognition that AGREA has bagged within 24 hours. The first being the winner of the Women of the Future Awards South East Asia Social Entrepreneur Award 2018 for AGREA’s President and Founding Farmer, Cherrie De Erit Atilano. The ASEAN Social Impact Awards reco...  Read More...

The winner of the Women of the Future Awards South East Asia Social Entrepreneur Award 2018 is Cherrie Atilano, AGREA’s President and Founding Farmer. The organizer's stated, “The judges were impressed with all of our candidates, but it was Cherrie who stood out with her proven track record and passion." "Cherrie’s agro-social enterprise aims to develop a one island economy model and the judges commend her commercially savvy and scalable solution which c...  Read More...

Anyone can farm. And everyone can learn a lesson or eight in farming.From getting our hands and feet dirty, to producing our own food from our backyard gardens, to trying to provide sustainable systems and technologies for farmers, to creating and managing social programs for agricultural families and communities, farming teaches us lessons that are valuable in our day-to-day lives.For many years now, AGREA has been doing work with the vision of uplifting the lives of local farming communities. ...  Read More...

written by Rachel Empig | Last September, I was privileged to travel to New Zealand under the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Young Business Leaders Initiative to attend and run a workshop at the Social Enterprise World Forum 2017 (SEWF). The workshop was called Farming for the Future and this was a great opportunity to share more about AGREA and provide advice and anecdotes on my experience engaging with farming communities in Marinduque, Philippines.Established in 2008, SEWF is a...  Read More...

Story HighlightsAGREA and Kaya Collaborative (Kaya Co) partnership brings Filipino-American graduate to Marinduque The future of food are in a vulnerable position if elder farmers’ talents are not passed down Contrary to the “helpless” stereotype, farmers are people eager to determine their own futures Written by Miguel Codiñera and Rachel Espejo-Empig One of AGREA’s eight thrusts is intercultural collaboration. The opportunity to...  Read More...

The Provincial Technical Education and Skills Development Committee (PTESDC) Meeting of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA Marinduque) was conducted last Friday, 18 August 2017 at Goodchow Dining and Function Hall, Boac, Marinduque. The committee was created to enhance the partnership between the public and private sectors involved in the delivery of Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Marinduque. Members of the committee are Governor Carm...  Read More...

AGREA was awarded a Global Responsible Business Leadership Award 2017 for Agriculture Development Excellence last 30 March 2017 at the Nexus Convention Centre in South Bangsar, Malaysia.The award represents the most prestigious form of recognition for companies globally on leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability. The Global Responsible Business Leadership Awards is organized by the Asia Pacific CSR Council and this year was supported by the United Nat...  Read More...

Written by Prince Darius Lina Story Highlights AGREA teams up with communities and organizations to implement solutions to social issues such as access to safe drinking water, electricity, and environmental protection.AGREA is taking sustainable and environment-friendly innovations, and coordinating with local communities and organizations across the globe to implement sustainable solutions in meeting the basic needs of society. Technology is available. Research has produced promi...  Read More...

Written by Josephine Schmeisser I am a twenty-year-old German girl from Dresden and I have been a volunteer at AGREA for five months now (since February 2017). I am based in Marinduque where most of my time is spent at the AGREA Model Farm. There, I have been helping out the farmers and growing my own crops. After I graduated from high school in Germany, I decided to take a gap year for voluntary work with the organization AFS, which assigned me to AGREA. Although farming was not ...  Read More...