A sweetpotato festival, dubbed “Sweetpotato FIESTA,” was held in Camiling, Tarlac, recently.
FIESTA stands for Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science Technology Agenda. This is one of the initiatives of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Technology (DOST-PCAARRD). Particularly, it is a technology diffusion strategy, which uses events to enhance agri-aqua technology transfer and commercialization.
Hosted by the Tarlac College of Agriculture (TCA), the FIESTA highlighted sweetpotato and the research efforts that the college and its local and international partner agencies conducted for almost two decades. These research efforts have yielded products that improved the productivity of sweetpotato farms and increased the income of the farmers and processors for both food and feed.
Sweetpotato is also the pride of Tarlac as the province is one of the largest commercial producers in the country. It is also the banner commodity of the Tarlac Province for the Philippine Rural Development Program.
The FIESTA kicked off with a parade participated by TCA’s students, teachers, and staff members.
“The sweetpotato festival is the second festival TCA has conducted on sweetpotato. The Sweetpotato FIESTA, however, is the first festival funded largely by PCAARRD. We hope to make the celebration a tradition here in TCA,” TCA President Max P. Guillermo said during the opening ceremonies.
After the opening ceremonies, the exhibit-cum-bazaar was formally opened. Sweetpotato varieties and processed products, machinery, and other equipment were put on display along with the posters containing information on the technologies on the crop.
A techno-business forum was also conducted. Topics discussed ranged from sweetpotato’s nutritional value, new improved varieties, uses; and R&D initiatives on the commodity to business opportunities. Resource speakers were from the academe, other government agencies, and the private sector. Students, farmers, media practitioners, and other guests attended the fora.
Held simultaneously were contests on poster making, essay writing, and cooking.
The first day was capped with a fellowship night. Cynthia R. Bernabe, an event practitioner and educator, was the special guest.
“It is not just fitting but a necessity that a Farms and Industry Encounters through the Science and Technology Agenda or FIESTA on sweetpotato be conducted here in Tarlac. As an event professional, I appreciate that the science community has been using events as a platform for communicating and promoting science and technology,” Bernabe said in her message.
The second day was highlighted with a visit to Sapang, Moncada, Tarlac. Hosted by the Sapang Multipurpose Cooperative, participants were treated to witness and join the harvesting of different sweetpotato varieties in the farms of the cooperative’s members.
The celebration ended with a “cantasala”, a group singing and dancing competition among sweetpotato farmer groups from Camiling and other municipalities and awarding of winners of the other contests.
