"Before enrolling, my only goal was to finish school. But along the way, I realized I shouldn’t just graduate; I should give back. My work now is a way to help our farmers and planters.”
EVERY morning at 5 a.m., the smell of caramelized sugar and fried bananas filled the Lumogdang household in Barangay Ranzo in Carmen, Cotabato.
For Art Anthony Lumogdang, that scent was not just a breakfast staple; it was the smell of his parents’ sacrifice.
While his father, Jun Art, hauled heavy loads of bananas from the steep hills of their farm, his mother, Annabelle, prepared banana cue and turon to sell at a nearby school.
For four years, these noble, grueling “sun-to-sun” jobs funded Lumogdang’s daily allowance and laboratory fees at the University of Southern Mindanao (USM).
“I will never be ashamed of what my mother and father did to get me here,” Lumogdang said. “But there were moments it almost suffocated me — the reality that we were struggling so much financially that we might not even survive a week.”
The turning point for the Lumogdang family came through the Scholarship Program for the Dependents of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (SP-DARB). As the child of a registered agrarian reform beneficiary, Lumogdang qualified for the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) initiative which provides semestral stipends and thesis allowances to students pursuing agricultural degrees.
For Lumogdang, the scholarship was the “bridge” that prevented his education from being weathered by financial storms. It allowed the eldest sibling to shift his focus from the anxiety of “how to pay” to the rigor of “how to grow.”
In 2025, the investment in Lumogdang’s education yielded a historic harvest.
Originally aiming for cum laude to fulfill a promise to his mother, Lumogdang exceeded his own expectations, graduating as one of only two magna cum laude honorees from the USM College of Agriculture.
Now a licensed agriculturist and researcher, Lumogdang has specialized in horticulture — a choice that brings him full circle to the very crops that sustained his childhood.
“Before ko nag-enroll sa agriculture, akong goal ra gyud is makatapos og pag-eskwela. But along the way, na-appreciate nako ang Agriculture and akong na-realize nga dili lang dapat ko mo-graduate... naa koy ikabalik dapat sa community. Ang akong work now is a way para makatabang sa atong mga farmers, especially sa tanan nga planters (Before enrolling, my only goal was to finish school. But along the way, I realized I shouldn’t just graduate; I should give back. My work now is a way to help our farmers and planters,” Lumogdang shared during an interview with DAR Cotabato’s Kape at Balitang Agraryo.
Cultivating the next generation
Lumogdang’s journey highlights a critical success story for the DAR, demonstrating how targeted academic support can break the cycle of poverty in rural communities. To maintain the scholarship, Lumogdang had to keep a general weighted average of at least 83 percent, a feat he balanced while returning home on weekends to help his mother sell banana cue.
Even after achieving professional excellence, the humility of the farm remains. Following his graduation, Lumogdang returned home to a simple celebration: a traditional tinola made from his father’s native chicken.
“College life will humble you big time,” Lumogdang reflected. “But I am thankful for the tears and the struggle. It gave me the wit, wisdom and bravery to face life.”
Today, as he walks the halls of USM as a professional, Art Anthony Lumogdang stands as living proof that when the government sows the seeds of education, the entire agricultural sector reaps the reward.
WITH A REPORT FROM PIA
Investing in the future of agriculture and food security
The future of Philippine agriculture is currently facing a quiet but profound crisis: the aging of the Filipino farmer. With the average age of farmers hovering between 55 and 59 years old, the country is at a demographic crossroads.
Without a deliberate effort to inspire and equip the next generation, the backbone of the nation’s food security faces an uncertain path. This is why initiatives like the Scholarship Program for the Dependents of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (SP-DARB) are not just educational programs, but essential interventions for national survival.
Administered through the Department of Agriculture and its partner agencies, the SP-DARB targets the children of those who have received land through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. By providing financial assistance, stipends and specialized training, the program ensures that the sons and daughters of tillers can pursue higher education in agriculture, fisheries and related technological fields.
The necessity of this program lies in the urgent need to modernize the sector. For decades, farming has been viewed as a cycle of poverty — a “back-breaking” labor that many parents wish their children to escape. This mindset has led to a massive migration of rural youth to urban centers, leaving fields untended or underproductive.
By educating young farmers, the Philippines introduces “Agri-tech” and “Agri-preneurship” into the landscape. These scholars are trained in climate-resilient farming, digital soil mapping and global value chain management, transforming traditional farming into a high-value professional career.
Ultimately, the SP-DARB creates a new breed of agricultural leaders.
These are young Filipinos who return to their ancestral lands not out of obligation, but with the scientific knowledge and business acumen to increase yields and lower costs.
Educating the youth is the only way to ensure that the Philippines can feed itself in a world of rising prices and shifting climates, turning the “sun-to-sun” labor of their parents into a sustainable, technology-driven future.
