Proyecto Agroecológico el Josco Bravo to train 150 new farmers
The Proyecto Agroecológico el Josco Bravo will train 150 new farmers through the ninth edition of its “Productores y Promotores” course starting next month, in seven locations throughout Puerto Rico, the nonprofit announced.
The course has a network of more than 60 farms that serve as mentors and where students must complete 50 hours of volunteer work to learn directly from the farmers about their daily work.
The agroecology course includes theoretical and practical components in which participants are involved in the creation of a vegetable crop that will develop for 20 weeks from February to June and covers all the essential aspects to develop an ecological farming harvest.
The program aims to train new farmers so they can establish their own agricultural micro-enterprises or to contribute to the family’s food self-sustenance. This year, it will be offered simultaneously in Toa Alta, Mayagüez, Gurabo, Ponce, Cayey, Toa Baja and Ciales.
Those interested in the course can submit their application and get information through the entity’s website, which will be available until Jan. 21.
“In an island where most farmers are more than 50 years old and every day there are fewer farms producing food, promoting a generational change of new farmers with the knowledge to acquire land, work it and produce food in a sustainable way must be considered a matter of national security,” said Alfredo Aponte, professor of the course section in Gurabo.
