Venancio Tornilo Garde Jr. graduated from Nueva Ecija University of Science & Technology Gabaldon Campus and obtained his Diploma in Agricultural Technology. Once, he was a volunteer Cathecist, SK chairman, and a Community Organizer of Gabay sa Bagong Pag-asa (GBP) SAFRUDI. He was also involved in other NGOs like MASIPAG, a farmer scientist partnership in Sustainable Agriculture. He is also part of PRRM or the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, PABINHI (Pilipinas Pambansang Inisyatibo ng Pagbibinhi sa Pilipinas and currently he is part of SRI Pilipinas as National Trainer and Consultant.

Notable Contribution in SRI Pilipinas:

Swine Raising Consultant in Quirino provincial agriculture office from 2016 up to present

SRI-Trainer and Consultant ORAS-NA/people’s organization LGU-Aringay La-Union

SRI-Trainer SRI and Natural Farming Technology Oxfam –GB 2012

SRI and Sustainable Agriculture Consultant Bahay tuluyan 2016-present

Organic livestock Consultant Guingona farm Tarlac 2011 SRI-Trainer

SRI-Season Long Trainer AGREA-Foundation June to October 2016 National Trainer

Organic Field Support program Department of Agriculture 2009.

Mr. Garde is sixth among nine siblings. He is a generous brother willing to help his siblings as long as he can and able to help. A father that is willing to do everything for his family without thinking of how hard it is as long as he perform his duties as a father to his children. He was married for 10 years to her loving wife and they have 3 lovely children.

In every success stories there is always challenges and problems that we need to face. When he was in elementary level he experienced being pandesal and balot vendor just to have allowance. In his high school days at the age of 15 or 16 he became a miner, he mines using only shovel and other mining tools that are all manual. He go in a tunnel without any safety gears, he experienced falling debris falling on her head and back. It is not safe for his age to be in this type of job and environment but his motivation is to save money for his studies in high school and to help his family. He was dreaming to finish Mechanical Engineering Course but because of financial problem he was not able to pursue it. He was thankful that there is a NGO that supports his studies in Agricultural Technology and at college he is also serving NGO as part-time job.

Despite of those challenge he is not willing to give up because according to him if you are determine in one thing , you need to do everything inorder to achieve it. Those challenges made him strong in every trials that he experienced. Every time he attends a mass he always have this reflection that those experience is part of his mission in his life that made him stronger, resilient and widen his perception about the things that surrounds him.

At present he loves his job as long as he is helping other people through Sustainable Agriculture that’s why he is considering it as his mission in life. His happiness in unmeasurable when he see his former students in SA became successful. He believed that even he was not able to see and talk to source he believed that the source is the one who taught his students.

As a Roman Catholic his eyes and mind is already open with the help and supervision of his parents, he believed that he is here in this world to perform a mission and that mission is to help the farmers to do the right things. He also have this mission to become a catalyst of change in the Philippines when it comes in Agriculture. He wants to share to other people the Organic Agriculture can assure food security that will feed their own family.

His dream for OA even it seems impossible is to transform every program of DA into Organic.