Senator Marcos launches 3rd Young Farmers’ Challenge

PASAY CITY -- Senator Imee Marcos launched Young Farmers’ Challenge (YFC) Year 3, an advocacy project of the senator in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to help the youth actively involved in agriculture.

The YFC was held on September 28 at the Coconut Palace in Pasay City.  Due to the success of the previous Young Farmers’ Challenge batches, YFC Year 3 already has as much as 4,500 pre-registered participants all over the country.

From this number, 546 contestants will get the chance to win ₱80,000 in the provincial category; 112 will win ₱150,000 in the regional category; and 12 participants will win the grand prize of ₱300,000 in the national category.

For YFC’s third year, Senator Marcos and DA will launch 2 new components exclusively for previous YFC winners and for students from state universities and colleges.  YFC Upscale is a competition among the previous Young Farmers’ Challenge winners which will assess their business plan to scale up their existing agri-business and 48 winners will be awarded ₱300,000 for this new category.

Another addition for YFC Year 3 is YFC Inter-collegiate Competition which will involve students from different state universities and colleges and 16 winners will have the opportunity to win ₱150,000 as grand prize.

 “Our Young Farmers Challenge is good news in agriculture,” amid the pressing issues on price hikes and importations, Imee said. “Marami pa tayong dapat gawin pero ayaw kong mawalan ng pag-asa dahil masyadong importante ito para mawalan ng sigla, mawalan ng pagsusumikap.”

The senator will continue to be a staunch supporter of anything related to agriculture, most especially to the youth actively involved in paving change for the future of agriculture in our country.

The senator’s support for the agriculture sector is also because her father, President Ferdinand Marcos, believed that coconut, like rice, corn and other food ingredients are more than just food to fill the stomach, but is powerful enough to bring more than just sustenance.

Apo Lakay would often say, “Kung pagkatao ang dinudulot ng bigas at ng pagkain; kung pagmamahal ay manggagaling din sa paghahati-hati ng meron; ang kalayaan ay makakamtan hindi sa gutom at hirap kung hindi sa malaya, maka-Diyos, mapagmahal na Pilipino. Kaya ang kalayaan din natin ay nakasalalay sa ating pagbubukid at pagtatanim.” Imee added. (Photos: Sen.Marcos Office/Robby Alugar & at Google Images)