Six agripreneurs and farmers have topped the national level competition of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) that is aimed at encouraging young farmers to come up with agriculture innovations.

The six winners were awarded with certificates and a P300,000 cash prize. each during the awarding ceremony held on Dec. 17 in Calasiao, Pangasinan for DA's "1st National Young Farmers Summit and Young Farmers Challenge: Kabataang Agribiz Awarding Ceremony".

They are the 3Rs Zero Waste Project (Region II); Lapaqueo (Region XIII); Dalikan Rabbit Meat and Chili Processing (CAR); Smartlink (Region IV-A); Mac's Bounty Farm (Region IV-B); and Agribata Brand: Instant Cereal Powder for Kids-Original Flavor (Region IV-B) (Region IX).

In a statement, DA said the Young Farmers Challenge: Kabataang Agribiz intends to provide competitive financial assistance to youth who want to start agri-fishery-based businesses.

DA-AMAS has already given each of the over 1,000 provincial awardees P50,000 in start-up money in April. From these awardees, a total of 48 people were chosen to compete at the regional level, with each receiving a certificate and a P150,000 cash prize.

DA Secretary William Dar was impressed with the finalists' proposals that he urged the Agricultural Credit and Policy Council (DA-ACPC) to double the winners' start-up funding.

"If you still need additional capital to expand your business, ACPC will provide a loan of up to P500,000 for the national winners and P200,000 for regional winners," Dar said.

"Many of you proposed business models for urban agriculture and integrating technologies will surely expand our food productivity not only horizontally but upward You are taking over the space to feed our population, to green our cities, to change our eating habits. You are responding to the global challenges, such as hunger and climate change, that confound veteran economists, scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs," he said, commending the awardees.