UBAY. The First Ubay Farmers' Festival unfurled last Monday as the Ubay Agri Park - Farmers' Information and Technology Services (UAP-FITS) Center celebrates its fourth foundation anniversary.
Bannering the theme "Commercializing Smallhold Farming Through Partnership in Production, Financing and Marketing," the festivity will run for four days with full-packed activities daily.

Opening salvo of the celebration was a Holy Mass at the St. Vincent Ferrer Parish Church in nearby brgy. San Pascual. Gov. Erico B. Aumentado, provincial board member Amalia Reyes-Tirol, second district representative Roberto Cajes and Mayor Eutiquio Bernales graced the cutting of ribbon to signal the opening of exhibits and opening program at the Farmers' Trading post in brgy. Lomangog. Mayor Bernales and Roberto Masbang led the presentation and launching of the UPHELD, School-on-Air, and K-Agrinet programs while vice mayor Galicano Atup will launch the Educational School Support program of the Phil. Guardians Brotherhood, Inc. Atup is the incumbent chapter president of the local PGBI.

MAYOR BERNALES

The formal launching of the festival featured the releasing of doves by the honored guest.

Guest speaker Dir. Asterio P. Saliot, director, ATI was introduced by Dr. Carolyn Mae O. Daquio while SB member Deogracias Butawan introduced Aumentado.

Following the closing remarks of Atup was the formal opening of the 1st Ubay Food Festival and the introduction of participants.

The afternoon fare featured the Tug-of-War and Centipede competition as cock carambola followed the cock fighting management seminar.

The Opening Day's presentation climaxed with a food festival with a live band in the evening.

Yesterday's activities include carabao racing elimination in the morning and the finals in the afternoon, along with the seminar on swine raising and broiler production.

Tomorrow, there will be a Family Day with Jollibee where kids will be treated with presentation and its talents.

Seminars on native chicken raising; cattle and carabao fattening will also be held while the BRAVO Team will conduct an animal health service.

Selected children from brgy. Lomangog will be treated with a milk feeding as the festivity is on its penultimate stage.

The afternoon schedule is devoted to the finals of the Motocross.

The awarding ceremony will culminate the celebration.

Meanwhile, the rationale behind the staging of the farmers festival is that the UAP-FITS emerged as the only FITS Center in the northeastern part of Bohol, proven to be efficient and effective facility in Agri-matured technology dissemination and education. That for the last three years of existence, a total of 17,865 local and foreign tourists came and visited the facility as the only Agri-tourist destination in Central Visayas.

Thus, the LGU of Ubay has focused its development programs more on agricultural development as other alternative source of livelihood to the citizenry.

Various strategies and approaches have been developed to safely guard and implement these agri-development projects focusing on the production of IMO Production; virgin coconut oil; vegetable gardening; tilapia culture; dairy processing; flower and garden showcase; plant trees nursery; fiber extraction and identifiation; Darag native chicken; swine breeding; vermiculture production; mango; livestock; milk soap processing; meat and fish processing and catsup processing.

A belt-in financial and marketing aspect to foster massive development in the villages and to further help the farmers increase their income and reduce poverty problems that beset the locality today.

Hence, Farmers' Festival is one of the most appropriate way to foster development and as a tool on market matching of the FARM products inputs and encourage sustainable entrepreneurship among the stakeholders. (w/ reports from FITS Center)