In a triumphant return after a three-year hiatus, Benguet State University (BSU) played a pivotal role in the 9th Sablan Fruit Festival, hosting a Techno Caravan that provided invaluable insights to farmers and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). On September 3, 2023, at the Sablan municipal gym, the Municipality of Sablan welcomed BSU as the esteemed Resource Speaker for their Farmers Congress and MSMEs Forum.

The Techno Caravan, initiated in 2016 and initially held in Kapangan, is an initiative aimed at showcasing BSU’s cutting-edge technologies, encompassing products, processes, services, and information. These caravans have been seamlessly integrated into the foundation anniversary celebrations of municipalities and provinces.

This remarkable event materialized through the collaborative efforts of the College of Agriculture and other BSU institutes. Esteemed experts from BSU brought their expertise to the forefront, offering critical insights into soil analysis, plant diseases, animal diseases, pest management, beekeeping, and related subjects. Farmers were encouraged to bring soil samples and plant specimens for on-the-spot diagnosis and recommendations from these seasoned experts. Prior to the event, these samples and specimens were meticulously collected, labeled, and prepared for thorough analysis.

Sablan’s municipal Mayor, Alfredo B. Dacumos Jr., inaugurated the program by expressing gratitude to the resource persons and underscoring the indispensable role of farmers in the municipality’s fruit production success. He also underscored the potential for product processing under Sablan’s One Town, One Product (OTOP) initiative, with a particular focus on the purple yam (ube) and other locally grown produce.

Following a brief message from Sanguniang Bayan Member Hon. Cornelio L. Almacen, Dr. Constantino T. Sudaypan, Dean of the College of Agriculture, introduced the experts designated for each topic. These resource speakers provided concise introductions to their respective units and areas of expertise, paving the way for an engaging question-and-answer session. Participants had the privilege of addressing their queries directly to the experts in fields such as asexual plant propagation, beekeeping, animal diseases, soil science, pests, and plant diseases.

To accommodate the constraints of time, the organizers offered contact information for the Office of Extension Services (OES), ensuring that farmers could reach out for further inquiries or concerns.

The culmination of the event saw the presentation of results derived from the meticulous analysis and diagnosis of soil samples and plant specimens to their respective owners. These farmers were further interviewed to gain deeper insights into their unique samples and specimens, allowing experts to provide personalized recommendations and remedies.

BSU’s Techno Caravan’s revival at the Sablan Fruit Festival served as a testament to the university’s commitment to empowering local farmers and MSMEs with the latest agricultural knowledge and technology. As the Fruit Basket of Benguet reaps the benefits of this collaborative effort, it is clear that the resurgence of the Techno Caravan is a boon to the region’s agricultural landscape.//