The Philippines takes pride in its agri-fishery sector with its vast agriculture landscape and abundant aquatic resources. Hence, it is considered as one of the main sectors of the economy. With the agriculture industry being the country’s main food source, many would say that there is a constant market need in agribusiness. Amidst the growing competition in an industry wherein traditional marketing is more commonly practiced, digital marketing can provide a wider platform in reaching potential consumers and markets.

As one of the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project’s (DA-PRDP) mandate to provide beneficiaries with capacity development trainings that would help them develop their enterprise subprojects, six proponent groups involved in the production and processing of various commodities such as mangoes, goat products, and other crops underwent a digital marketing training led by the DA-PRDP Central Luzon (RPCO 3) I-REAP component in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija on June 29-30, 2023.

_{Six proponent groups from Tarlac and Nueva Ecija participated in the Digital Marketing Training}

The modernization of agricultural production such as the use of high yielding variety seeds and increased farm mechanization have helped farmers improve their productivity but also gave rise to the challenge of marketing surplus and keeping them at a fair price. Therefore, arising the call for taking advantage of modern techniques in agricultural marketing.

DA-PRDP RPCO 3 invited the North Luzon Cluster Project Support Office Enterprise Development and Marketing Specialist Magdalena Elaine Reyes to discuss the fundamentals of digital marketing and its different strategies. With the assistance PRDP staff, Reyes facilitated a workshop to teach the participants on how to create a Facebook page and design content using the free-to-use graphic design tool, Canva.

_{PSO North Luzon Enterprise Development and Marketing Specialist Magdalena Elaine Reyes discussed the fundamentals of digital marketing}

Meanwhile, participants of the training were hopeful that with the use of this modern marketing strategy, they will be able to grow their enterprise and reach a wider market for their products. “We were able to identify the different strategies for advertising and promoting our PCMGA products to be able to reach our customers. We can’t thank the resource speakers enough and the staff who assisted in the training,” said Palayan City Mango Growers Association President, Florlinda Trino, who participated in the digital marketing training. 

DA Central Luzon Regional Technical Director and PRDP Project Director Arthur Dayrit, Ph.D. and RPCO 3 I-REAP Component Head Maricel Dullas gave their words of encouragement to the participants in embracing the digitalization of marketing their products for a wider reach and faster transaction with potential customers and business partners.

_{RPCO 3 Project Director Arthur Dayrit, Ph.D. and I-REAP Component Head Maricel Dullas (center) poses with the participants and PRDP staff}