The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday said more youths are now engaged and earning in farming, following the pilot implementation of the Youth Intern Program for Organic Agriculture (YIPOA) in 2023.

“We are creating a new breed of youth at nag-e-enjoy sila sa agriculture (and they are enjoying in agriculture),” DA-National Organic Agriculture Program Director Bernadette San Juan said during the Usapang Agrikultura aired in Radyo Pilipinas.

“Mayroon pong isang kabataang babae, out of school youth, 22 anyos lang, kumikita po ng PHP1,200 to PHP1,500 a day sa pagbebenta po ng itlog ng itik (There’s a female out-of-school youth, 22 years old, she’s earning as high as PHP1,200 to PHP1,500 a day from selling duck eggs),” she said, citing a 70-percent harvest on one of the YIPOA’s beneficiaries’ poultry production.

YIPOA is the DA’s nine-month internship program where enrolled youth beneficiaries are directly deployed in fields under farmer-partners nationwide, with a PHP5,000 allowance each.

Program beneficiaries are trained in planting crops, raising livestock, creation of natural fertilizers, troubleshooting of agricultural machinery, and food processing, among others.

“Sinasanay natin sila, dini-deploy, wala na munang lecture (We train and deploy them, there are no lectures), hands-on,” San Juan said.

Those who complete the nine-month internship are given PHP150,000 worth of capital, with PHP10,000 worth of allowance for the succeeding months while awaiting harvest.

“Tayo lang po ang programa na nagbibigay ng panimulang puhunan, PHP150,000 after nine months. Wala hong programa sa ngayon na scholarship na nagbibigay ng ganyan kalaki (We are the only program that gives a seed capital of PHP150,000 after nine months. There’s no current scholarship program that grants such sums),” she said.

So far, San Juan said the YIPOA is positively accepted among the youths.

“Iba na po kasi ang kabataan ngayon. Hindi na sila nakakulong sa dating kamalayan nung tayo ay kaga-graduate lang na rat race, Makati ang iniisip natin di ba. Ngayon iba na po sila. Open na po sila na ang lifestyle ay farm (The youth now are different. They are no longer confined in a rat race mindset like us, where Makati comes first in mind after graduation. They are now different. They are now open to a farming lifestyle),” she said.

To date, there are 150 youth beneficiaries under the YIPOA.

Besides YIPOA, the DA-National Organic Agriculture Program is also implementing its Organic Agriculture Livelihood Program which provides PHP5 million worth of support to farmer organizations to fill in the value-chain gap, as well as the Soil Health Program which seeks to rehabilitate the quality of soil in the country to boost production and resilience. (PNA)