IMPROVEMENT IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF FARMERS ON SELECTED AGRI-TECHNOLOGIES: PRELIMINARY INITIATIVES FOR FOOD SUFFICIENCY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BUKIDNON, PHILIPPINES

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the agricultural supply chain, threatening small farmers' food security and income. With this, Central Mindanao University initiated extension initiatives to train farmers on mushroom and vermicompost production. This study assessed the improvement in farmers' knowledge of mushroom production and vermicompost production in selected farmer groups in Bukidnon, Philippines. The study used a quasi-experimental research design following the one-group pretest-posttest design. The study was conducted on four farmer organizations with 70 participants located in the municipalities of Quezon, Maramag, Don Carlos, and Talakag in Bukidnon. A separate test questionnaire was developed for mushroom and vermicompost production pretest and posttest. A t-test was used in the analysis. Findings revealed that farmer respondents already have moderate knowledge of mushroom and vermicompost production. However, after the extension interventions were given to them, there was a significant increase in their knowledge level in both agri-technologies (p-value=0.000). Thus, the training on mushroom and vermicompost production effectively improved farmers' knowledge. These initiatives can be replicated in other areas to increase the number of beneficiaries using a combination of extension methodologies. Regular and continuous monitoring can be done to ensure high adoption of agri-technologies for food sufficiency. Keywords: Farmers' knowledge level, Mushroom production, vermicomposting.Agri-Technologies