The Israeli Embassy in Manila is reviewing the scholarship program it is offering to Filipino agricultural experts after observing that a number of its alumni end up working overseas, according to Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss.
Every year, 500 young Filipino agricultural experts are sent to Israel by the Israeli ministries of foreign affairs and agriculture. They are given training on practical experiential learning in advanced, modern agricultural methods which they could share with other Filipino farmers or agricultural trainers.
The Israel Agro Studies program started in 2005 and since then, it has produced around 8,000 alumni. “Where are they?” Fluss asked.
“When I arrived here in Manila in October last year, I asked one of the scholars what his plans are. He said, ‘I’m going to apply for a visa to New Zealand,’” the Israeli ambassador told the BusinessMirror.
“Then there is another Embassy that I won’t mention. They told me that there is this group of Filipino mushroom growers who are going to their country, and all of them are graduates of the Israel agricultural program.”
He lamented that despite the 11-month training as interns in Israel, the knowledge and skills that Filipino agricultural students have acquired are not being applied in the Philippines.
“That’s our big challenge now. We need to have an effective system of integration when they come back from Israel. We cannot just create a program [for the Philippines] and then another country will benefit from it.”
The Israeli ambassador said he recently had brainstorming meetings with the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Training Institute, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority as well governors and mayors from the provinces to solicit ideas that will allow the Philippines to take full advantage of the skills of Filipino agricultural scholars trained by Israel.
In his recent trip to Ilocos a few weeks ago, Fluss noted that he met only two or three farmer-entrepreneurs.
“The economic model is very challenging. The solution must come from farmers who should not be doing subsistence farming but commercial farming. And a system should be in place so that issues related to their farms, suppliers and traders will also be dealt with.”
Despite its limited resources in both arable land and fresh water, Israel is a global leader in agricultural technology.
Fluss said Israeli agriculture companies are keen sharing their expertise with Filipino planters and firms to expand the output of local farms.
Image credits: Emm Alquinto