Grains of Growth: Agrikonomiya 2023 Cultivating Young Minds

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Agrikonomiya 2023, with the theme “Changing the Landscape: Economic Development Through Emerging Agricultural Paradigm,” aims to inform Filipinos, especially the youth, about the current state of the country’s agricultural sector. Established in 2018, Agrikonomiya continues to serve as a ground to gain knowledge about agricultural and socio-economic initiatives and issues across the Philippines.

The event has five (5) main competitions, namely the Agricultural Resolutions Pitch, Poster Making Contest, Essay Writing, Promotional Video, and Debate Competitions. With these, participants can showcase their talents and innovative ideas. Students from different schools also get to prove their excellence in defending their assigned stances, as well as market Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics (BS AAE) as a degree to the youth,  proving that it has so much more to offer. Although the contests were still conducted online due to the pandemic, it does not take away from the goal of the event, which is to bring light upon agriculture as a significant factor in economic growth through collective action.

Other activities such as a seminar and a culminating activity are also part of Agrikonomiya 2023’s series of events. With the theme,”Pivoting in the Current Agricultural Crisis: Adapting Emerging Agricultural Paradigms and its Implications in the Economy,” the seminar seeks to

equip all potential audiences with the amount of consciousness they need to understand the

sentiments of farmers. The culminating event, lastly, serves as the final event and marks the end of Agrikonomiya 2023.

A Growing Mountain of Achievements

UP Agricultural and Applied Economics Circle (UPAAEC), formerly UP Agricultural Economics Circle, spearheads the project. They are an academic organization based in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), composed of bona fide students from the BS AAE program.

Wanting to convince others to take the course, experience the “sunshine” of getting into agriculture, and persevere through the rain of issues, its members launched the project. And, staying true to their vision of promoting Agricultural and Applied Economics as a field of study and career, they now hold the event, which was only a one-day program back in 2020, for a whole month long.

As a result, not even five years after the event was introduced to constituents and audiences, Agrikonomiya took to the national scene in 2021, having around 80 schools and over 500 students participating in it. Now, 558 high school students competed for this year’s competitions.

(READ: https://www.rappler.com/bulletin-board/agrikonomiya-involve-youth-agricluture-sector/)

Watch the livestream of our culminating activity for the full list of winners.

Planting the Seeds of Camaraderie

Aside from advertising the degree and creating fun activities for the youth to dive in,

Agrikonomiya also develops the spirit of camaraderie in its proponent organizations’ members, as well as other constituents from and outside UPLB. Partnerships are sowed and endorsements are made to further widen the spread of the event.

Listed below are just a few of the endorsers and partners of UPAAEC for this year’s Agrikonomiya:

Endorsed by:

UPLB College of Economics and Management Student Council

UPLB Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

UPLB Department of Economics

UPLB College of Economics and Management

Junior Philippine Economics Society

National Economic and Development Authority

Major Partners

Daily Tribune

SparkUp

Wazzup Pilipinas

BusinessMirror

Gold Sponsor

UP Beta Sigma Fraternity - Los Baños Chapter

Silver Sponsor

TSU Economics Society

Bronze Sponsor

UP Agribusiness Society (UPABS/BISOK)

UP Society of Management and Economics Students - UP SMES

Arts and Sciences Society of English Majors

Applied Economics Society

Sandigan ng Mag-aaral para sa Sambayanan

USLS - College of Arts and Sciences Council

As the agricultural sector continues to face numerous upheavals, it is important that citizens help each other in calling for concrete, efficient, and inclusive policies by untiringly creating initiatives for the betterment of the country. Like what was shown in Agrikonomiya 2023, all must strive for economic development to reap the harvests of their collaborative efforts.

Rainie Edz Dampitan and Mark Famatigan

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