PHL dominates 2012 Agrostudies Awards in Israel

The Philippines again dominated this year's Agro-studies program in Israel, getting the most awards compared to the other trainee-sending countries in Asia, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. For this year, the Philippines bagged three out of four awards for excellence while fielding the biggest number of participants and trainees for the 11-month training in agricultural facilities and colleges in Israel. "In the recent graduation ceremonies of the Agro-studies program held in the Wingate Institute in Netanya on August 1, almost half of the 500 graduates are from the Philippines while the rest are from Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and India," the DFA said. Yaron Tamir, chief executive officer of the Agro-studies program, said he expects an even bigger number of trainees from the Philippines following the successful performance of this year's trainees. Tamir informed the Embassy the next batch of new trainees from the Philippines will arrive towards the middle of October. He said these may include new trainees from another Philippine university in La Union. Tamir said the best students in this year's batch include those from the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University in Northern Luzon. On the other hand, the DFA said the Filipino graduates of the program are mostly students taking agriculture courses and screened by their university officials. Big opportunity In his valedictory speech, Jessi Rom, one of the top graduates this year, said this is a big opportunity to be in Israel to take part in the training. He thanked the organizers and lecturers for the experience and the knowledge that all graduates will bring back home. Special excellence awards were given to four graduates, including three from the Philippines. Ariel Cardinez, Erly Saleng and Ramil Eliazar were recognized for their official extra-curricular activities during their training. The graduation ceremony also included brief presentations of group research projects of the trainees who had Israeli technical advisers. Research projects from PHL Two of the top three research projects completed this year were by Filipino teams. First to present was the team of Jim Albert Tubig, Harry Santos and Marlon Sto. Domingo who trained in SderotYam and completed their research on "the effect of deflowering on the appearance of fungal disease in banana." The second group which completed a research on "the influence of hot water treatment on the storability and quality of grape fruits" in Ramat Naftali is composed of Gabriel Fantilanan, Reyvan Nievares, Geron Pareja, Cris Malic Jr., Jerry Bainggan, and Patrick de la Cruz. Philippine Ambassador to Israel Generoso Calonge reiterated Filipinos can show their best and can do even better if trained by the best professionals in the best facilities. He also urged the Filipino graduates to put dignity back in farming and to be proud of what they have accomplished in Israel when they return to the Philippines. — LBG, GMA News