News
A New Agricultural Information Kiosk Just Opened at ISPSC Sta. Maria — Bringing Farm Technology and Extension Services Directly to Ilocos Sur Communities
The Farmers' Information and Technology Services Kiosk launched at Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College on March 16, giving farmers, fisherfolk, students, and community members in Sta. Maria a dedicated access point for research-based agricultural knowledge and technology.
Amianan Desk
Amianan Innovation Ventures
The Farmers' Information and Technology Services (FITS) Kiosk at Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College's Sta. Maria Campus was formally launched on March 16, 2026, bringing together the local government of Sta. Maria, ISPSC, the Ilocos Agriculture, Aquatic and Resources Research and Development Consortium, and the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center I. Student leaders, farmer cooperative representatives from Sta. Maria, and other agriculture and fisheries stakeholders attended the launch.
The kiosk is part of DA-ATI's Techno Gabay Program, a national initiative designed to make agricultural information and technology accessible at the community level. Its placement inside a state university campus is a deliberate choice: ISPSC becomes both a host and an active partner in delivering that information to the communities it serves.
What the FITS Kiosk Actually Does
The FITS Kiosk functions as a dedicated information center for agriculture and fisheries technology. Farmers, fisherfolk, students, and community members in Sta. Maria and surrounding areas can access timely, research-based guidance on crop production, fisheries management, and agricultural best practices — the kind of knowledge that typically requires a trip to a government office or an internet connection that not everyone in the area reliably has.
Alladin C. Tabo, Information Officer II and Techno Gabay Program Focal Person of DA-ATI-RTC I, explained at the launch that the kiosk is designed to serve as a center for agricultural and fisheries information and technology — open to anyone in the community the college serves. That open-access framing is important. A kiosk inside a university that only serves enrolled students misses the point. One that serves farmers and cooperatives in the municipality alongside students is a genuine community resource.
The Collaboration Behind the Launch
The launch reflected a coordinated effort across multiple institutions that do not always appear in the same room. Sta. Maria Mayor Michael Florendo attended personally and expressed support for the initiative as a tool to strengthen farmers' knowledge and help them make better decisions for their agricultural livelihoods. ISPSC President Mario P. Obrero framed the kiosk as a bridge between the university's research extension mandate and the practical needs of local farmer associations, cooperatives, and aspiring agri-entrepreneurs in the municipality.
Dr. Love Grace Campano, representing ILAARRDEC, outlined the consortium's support for the programs under the Techno Gabay umbrella and noted that the ISPSC launch is expected to strengthen FITS Centers across Ilocos Sur more broadly. Dr. Maricel D. Dacapias of DA-ATI-RTC I added that the kiosk will serve as a channel for timely and relevant agricultural knowledge that farming and fishing communities can directly apply.
The presence of farmer cooperative representatives at the launch is worth noting. A kiosk inaugurated in front of the people it is designed to serve, rather than just government and academic officials, signals that the initiative is oriented toward actual community use rather than institutional optics.
What This Means for Northern Luzon
Agricultural extension — getting research-based knowledge from institutions to the farmers who need it — has always been one of the most difficult last-mile challenges in Philippine agriculture. The gap between what research centers know and what farmers in the field apply is wide, and it costs productivity every season. FITS Kiosks placed inside state universities like ISPSC are one of the more practical attempts to close that gap, because universities already have the physical presence, the student networks, and the institutional relationships to make information flow in both directions.
For Ilocos Sur's farming and fishing communities, the Sta. Maria kiosk is a new touchpoint worth using. For other state universities in Northern Luzon that have not yet hosted a FITS Kiosk, ISPSC's experience is worth following as a model for how an HEI can deepen its extension mandate in concrete, community-facing ways.
Farmers, fisherfolk, and community members in Sta. Maria and surrounding Ilocos Sur municipalities can access the FITS Kiosk at ISPSC Sta. Maria Campus. For institutions interested in establishing a FITS Kiosk through the Techno Gabay Program, DA-ATI Regional Training Center I is the starting point.
