Cagayan Valley's Farmers and Fisherfolk Don't Just Harvest. They Innovate. CV RAISE Showed the Proof at Robinsons Tuguegarao.
The CV RAISE Program joined the DA-BFAR Region 2 Farmers and Fisherfolk Month kick-off on May 4, 2026 at Robinsons Place, Tuguegarao City — showcasing commercialized agri-aqua technologies from canned goods to seaweed-based products to a room of government officials and everyday mall visitors alike.
Research-based agri-aqua innovations do not always make it out of the laboratory and into the hands of the people who could use them. On May 4, 2026, the Regional Agri-Aqua Innovation System Enhancement Program of Cagayan Valley made a deliberate effort to close that distance — by setting up a booth at Robinsons Place, Tuguegarao City, where farmers, fisherfolk, government personnel, and ordinary mall visitors could see, handle, and ask questions about what the region's agri-aqua research has actually produced.
The occasion was the kick-off celebration of the Farmers and Fisherfolk Month 2026, organized by the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Region 2. The event also marked the installation of Mr. Danilo L. Viernes as the 2026 Mangingisdang Direktor — a recognition that honored the region's fishing community at the same moment it showcased the technologies designed to support them.
What the Booth Showed
The CV RAISE booth was not a poster display. It featured processed and commercialized products developed under the programme, including:
Canned goods from regional agri-aqua sources
Seaweed-based products representing Cagayan Valley's coastal aquaculture output
Vegetable oils processed from locally grown crops
Banana chips and other value-added agricultural innovations
Each product on the booth is a proof point: a raw material that came from a Region 2 farm or fishing community, was processed through a research-backed method, and arrived at the display table as something a consumer would actually buy. That arc — from harvest to commercialized product — is the core argument of what RAISE is building in the region.
Information, education, and communication materials on regional technologies were also distributed, giving visitors a take-home resource beyond the booth interaction.
Who Stopped and Engaged
The crowd at Robinsons Place Tuguegarao on May 4 was not a curated audience of agricultural professionals. It was a mix of fellow government personnel attending the Farmers and Fisherfolk Month celebration and ordinary mallgoers who encountered the booth during their regular routines. Both groups engaged actively with the displays.
That mix is the point. Agri-aqua innovation programmes often communicate upward, to policymakers and institutional partners, and struggle to communicate outward, to the consumers, community members, and local entrepreneurs who are the eventual end-users and market for what gets developed. A mall booth during a public celebration is a deliberately accessible format — low barrier, high foot traffic, real conversation.
What CV RAISE Is Building Toward
The Regional Agri-Aqua Innovation System Enhancement Program is a coordinated initiative to strengthen the research, development, and commercialization pipeline for agriculture and fisheries in Cagayan Valley. Its participation in the Farmers and Fisherfolk Month kick-off reflects a programme that understands its mandate extends beyond the research facility: getting innovations in front of farmers, fisherfolk, and the public is as important as developing the innovations in the first place.
For the broader Northern Luzon ecosystem, CV RAISE's visible presence at a public venue in Tuguegarao is another signal that the region's agri-innovation infrastructure is not waiting to be discovered. It is actively going to where the people are.
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