PCAF welcomes back 2013 batch of YFFTPJ trainees

Trainees of the Young Filipino Farmers Training Program in Japan in 2013 pose for posterity with PCAF Executive Director Ariel Cayanan, Deputy Executive Director Florabelle Uy-Yap and some agency officers during their courtesy call.

Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) officials led by Executive Director Ariel Cayanan and Deputy Executive Director Florabelle Uy-Yap welcomed back last year’s batch of 12 trainees of the Young Filipino Farmers Training Program in Japan (YFFTPJ).

During the courtesy calls with Deputy Exec. Dir. Yap and Exec. Dir Cayanan on March 21 and 24, respectively, the trainees shared their experiences during their 11-month training in Japan.

Batch president Alex Libano, the seventh in a brood of 11, shares with PCAF Exec. Dir. Ariel Cayanan the farming techniques he learned from his Japanese farmer-host in Uwajima City, Ehime Province

Batch president Alex Libano, the seventh in a brood of 11, shares with PCAF Exec. Dir. Ariel Cayanan the farming techniques he learned from his Japanese farmer-host in Uwajima City, Ehime Province

Batch president Alex Libano, 24, of Davao Oriental described how advanced farming technology is in Japan. He said he is grateful for the experience and skills he gained especially in operating farm equipment and machinery which he can use when he ventures into rice production.

Some of the trainees also shared the ‘One Village One Product’ program being adopted in Japanese communities which enables farmers in one village to produce one specific agricultural commodity and directly sell the value-added products in the market.

The trainees said that they learned a lot from their respective trainings in different areas such as farm management, organic farming, vegetable farming, cattle breeding and fattening, and marketing. One of them has also observed that the Japanese farmers themselves label their products right at their own farms.

They also shared how kind and trusting their Japanese host families are, who also wished them to excel in their chosen agricultural ventures back in Philippine land.

The trainees collectively conveyed their gratitude for the YFFTPJ which, for them, is a rare and huge opportunity especially for indigent young Filipino farmers like them.

They also hoped that the knowledge they acquired from their training will help improve not only the life of their families but also of their communities.

Exec. Dir. Cayanan congratulated the 2013 YFFTPJ participants on their feat and was glad to see that their sacrifices bore good fruits. He hoped that they will benefit from the skills and knowledge they acquired.

“Thank you for your hard work. You have made the PCAF, the Department of Agriculture and the whole country proud,” he told the 2013 YFFTPJ trainees.

The 2013 YFFTPJ trainees share an account of their experiences during their 11-month training in Japan with PCAF Deputy Exec. Dir. Florabelle Uy-Yap.

DED Yap was also glad that young Filipino farmers like them are being exposed to the discipline and culture of Japanese farmers. She hoped that they will become highly competitive farmers in the near future as they apply the skills and values they learned in Japan.

She also hoped that the trainees will uphold what they learned about the importance of quality of products, as opposed to quantity. DED Yap also urged them to live by the value of respecting the environment as their Japanese mentors have instilled in them.


The 2013 YFFTPJ participants will undergo post-training and evaluation. The training will include lectures on volunteerism, people-centered development, project proposal preparation, entrepreneurship and orientation about the Agricultural and Fishery Councils. This will be held amid the ongoing Pre-Departure Orientation Course of the 2014 batch of YFFTPJ trainees, who will be graduating from the course on April 4 and will leave for Japan on April 10.

see also: http://nafc.da.gov.ph/NAFCNEWs/2014/pcafwelcome.html