Cornelio M. Benigno Jr.
BS Agriculture 2003
Distinguished Alumnus in Agri-Entrepreneurship
The love to go back to farm and fervent quest to develop technologies for one’s farm, is exemplified by Cornelio. After gaining skills in agriculture at BSU, he went back to his hometown, Buguias, to farm. He diligently practiced the basics of organic farming until his farm was accredited by the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines (OCCP). With his advanced farming methods, he was chosen as Magsasaka Siyenstista (Farmer Scientist) and a Gawad Saka (Family Farm Category) by DA- ATI.
He is one among the few farmers who shifted into organic farming after finishing trainings on Organic Agriculture and his visits to certified organic farms such as Kaharian Farm in Batangas, Duran Farm in Bulacan, and Costales Nature Farm in Laguna, all of which were sponsored by DA-CAR. He also practiced his learnings from Japan as recipient of two trainings by STTP-JITCO (8 months) and JAEC (3 months).
Cornelio established a nursery based on Japan’s technology using seedling trays and transplanted the seedlings the way it should be. He developed a crop programming scheme for regular harvests, used appropriate packaging materials and followed label standards that include his name as producer, contact number and many more. He constructed green houses with drip irrigation, and a composting area with the feces of their rabbits as add-on inputs.
“Farming is a promising means of livelihood in raising ones’ growing family”, he said. His farm is called CJ Savers Garden. It is certified as a Farm School for farmers, researchers, students and other farm enthusiasts.