BEST REGIONAL AGRI FEATURE STORY Baguio Midland Courier staff member Hanna C. Lacsamana receives her trophy for winning the Best Agriculture Feature Story-regional award for her story “Making agriculture viable for millennials” during the 12th Bright Leaf Journalism Awards night last Nov. 16 in Makati City. It is the second time that Lacsamana won in the prestigious competition that honors journalists’ work that focus on the country’s agriculture sector.  Bright Leaf photo

The story, “Making agriculture viable for millennials” published in Baguio Midland Courier won this year’s Best Agriculture Feature Story-Regional category of the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards.

The story, written by Courier staff member Hanna C. Lacsamana, was published as part of the paper’s 71st anniversary supplement in April and the reporter’s lone entry to the contest. It tackled the importance of the agriculture industry, making it attractive to college students, with Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet making use of technology, computer software, models, and applications part of the college curriculum, in its effort to produce more progressive farmers using science and technology rather than just relying on old practices.

Lacsamana, who received the recognition during an awards ceremony at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City on Nov. 16 along with the other winners of the 12th Bright Leaf Awards, first won a Bright Leaf award in 2015 for Best Agri News Story-Regional.

In 2014, Courier editor-in-chief and lensman Harley Palangchao also bagged the Agriculture Photo of the Year major award for his front page photo, “Frostlandia” and the Best Agriculture News Story-Regional for his story on the sad state of Mount Data National Park in 2012.

Other winners this year include three Northern Luzon journalists, which swept regional and major awards. Karlston Lapniten of the Baguio Chronicle was conferred the Best Agriculture News Story-Regional for his story, “Brewing enough coffee for the Filipino Cup.”

Wilfredo Lomibao of Philippine Daily Inquirer claimed his trophy for Agriculture Photo of the Year with his winning photo titled “Pond Harvest” that captured fishermen in one of the fishponds in Dagupan City that grows Bonuan bangus.

Erwin Beleo of The Star Northern Dispatch based in San Fernando City, La Union was the winner for Tobacco Photo of the Year for “Chill Only,” which shows a tobacco farmer sewing tobacco leaves for a living in Barangay Patpata, Balaoan, La Union.

The Tobacco Story of the Year plum went to SunStar Pampanga’s Ian Ocampo Flora for his article entitled “Is tobacco the next ‘miracle crop’?”

The five-part in-depth discussion about rice of Henrylito Tacio of Edge Davao brought home the Agriculture Story of the Year Award for “The grass that feeds Filipinos.”

Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas of Business Mirror brought home two trophies, one for Best Agriculture Feature Story-National for “Fowl farmers’ fears persist 1 year after bird flu flare-up: PHL poultry raisers on ground zero still coping”; and Best Agriculture News Story-National trophy with colleague Cai Ordinario for their story “Snapshot of rice-consumption data remains grainy as Pinoys grapple with supply, prices.”

For Best Agriculture TV Program or Segment, Agri Tayo Dito of ABS-CBN Regional Network was named winner for their four-part series on biotechnology.

Malu Manar of DXND Kidapawan was named winner of Best Agriculture Radio Program or Segment for the“Vermi Composting sa Urban Household” episode of the program, Bida Specials.

Victoria Conde of Rappler won the first Best Online Story award for “How beekeeping helped a Sorsogon coconut farm.”

Almost 600 entries competed in this annual competition that honors excellent stories and photos that are published, aired or broadcast in print, radio, TV, and for the first time, online.

This year’s panel of judges was composed of Dr. Isabelita Reyes, Marby Villaceran, Francis Abraham, Edwin Sallan, Jake Maderazo, Rem Zamora, J. Albert Gamboa, Sev Sarmenta, Pennie Azarcon dela Cruz, Ramon Osorio, Rina Jimenez-David, and Alfred “Krip” Yuson, who was also the chair of the board of judges.

Farmer, entrepreneur, and social media celebrity Nico Bolzico was the program’s keynote speaker.