Bulacan Agricultural State College – one of the main participants in the agro-studies program which is the 11-month internship of 540 Filipino students – hosted the making of the coalition of advanced agro-technology.
Twenty-six state colleges and universities, represented by presidents and program coordinators, are involved in the coalition.
Yaron Tamir, CEO of Israel’s Agro-studies Program which is the host organization of Filipino students, attended the selection of students for the 11-month internship program for 2015-2016.
“In those 11 months, we hope to change your lives. Our purpose is when you go back to the Philippines, you are educated in Israel’s modern agriculture. In Israel, at the moment we have 1,432 students from 19 countries, 543 of them are from the Philippines,” Tamir told the students.
“I can guarantee that your life will be changed. You will become modern farmer and exporter,” he added.
Tamir noted that the students will be exposed to Israel’s know-how and technology through export-oriented farms where they will learn important aspects such as irrigation, post-harvest and international production standards.
The Philippine-Israel coalition of advanced agro-technology aims to turn the participating universities and state colleges into lighthouse projects with demonstration units of Israeli agro-technology to extend support to farming communities.
“This internship program is already running for ten years. Now we are talking about next steps, for the universities participating in the program to move to next level – turning the universities to lighthouse of the communities,” Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau said.
Every year, 500 Filipino agriculture students study in Israel on on-the-job-training, and hundreds of professionals participate in training programs in various courses, mostly on agriculture in Israel.
