6 winners of Young Farmers Challenge in Kalinga receive over P.4M start-up capital

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Six young iKalinga agri-preneurs who are winners of the provincial Young Farmers Challenge (YFC) 2024 were granted start-up capital amounting to P480,000 or P80,000 each by the Department of Agriculture.

YFC is a financial support initiative from the Department of Agriculture designed to involve young individuals in activities connected to agriculture, agribusiness, and agri-preneurship as collaborators and advocates for sustainable development.

The YFC search in Kalinga took place on January 23, 2025, at the Golden Berries Hotel and Convention Center in San Juan, Tabuk City, organized by the DA-Cordillera, in collaboration with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.

All aspiring young farmers in the province presented their intended business plans and were assessed by the OPAG and DA. Every entry was evaluated according to its innovativeness, ability to produce revenue, and sustainability.

List of winners

The six winners of the provincial YFC competition, as announced by OPAG on January 23, include Janet Magadang with her proposed agribusiness "Nel-j's cookie bean delight",  Adelfa Lorraine Balingue with her "Maabundance agriventure farm", John Lloyd Bangibang with his "Lloyd's goat production, Don Alfred Viloria with his “Dawn azollandia", Mara Banggawan with her "Hapa-based hatchery fish production”, and Jharvic Dalsen with his "Backyard tilapia production".

Each of the winners was granted P80,000 capital to begin their desired businesses and will also have the opportunity to get more funds as they will be competing at the regional level to be held in the coming days. Winners of said competition shall be provided with additional start-up capital.