July 17, 2022

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has continued to provide various skills training programs for Filipino rice farmers under its Rice Extension Services Program (RESP).

TESDA Officer-in-Charge, Deputy Director General Rosanna Urdaneta said TESDA has been prioritizing its agriculture courses as the Agency believes that upskilling the country’s farmworkers will certainly help the country achieve food security and sufficiency.

“We’ve always made the agriculture sector a priority in our scholarship programs. We’ll continue to work with government agencies and the private sector for the provision of skills training and livelihood opportunities for our rice farmers,” she said.

The agriculture sector is one of the top priorities of the new Marcos administration and trains its sight on boosting local production of farm products and limit importation of goods.

In the first half of this year, a total of 25,494 rice farmers have already enrolled in various TESDA courses under RESP. Most of them are still undergoing training in their respective courses.

TESDA trains rice farmers in line with the implementation of Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act. The implementing guidelines were issued in September 2019 on RESP activities to be carried out by the Agency through its regional and provincial offices.

Deputy Director General for TESD Operations Aniceto “John” Bertiz III said the Agency has allotted over 50,000 scholarship slots under RESP for 2022.

“I encourage rice farmers and their dependents to avail programs under RESP as it will help the country to achieve food security,” he said.

In 2020 and 2021, TESDA trained a total of 64,421 rice farmers nationwide, of whom 25,904 and 38,517 finished their respective trainings in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Under the RESP, TESDA offers agriculture-related courses such as Farm Field School on Production of High-Quality Inbred Rice and Seed Certification and Farm Mechanization, Rice Machinery Operations, Drying and Milling Plant Servicing NC III, Agro-entrepreneurship NC II, Pest and Nutrients Management, and Digital Agriculture Course in the Farm Field School (FFS) nationwide.

To date, there are 399 public and private FFS which provide applicable agricultural technologies and thereby help improve the farming capabilities of farmers from traditional to modernized farming.

It may be recalled TESDA directed all its field offices to establish FFS in their respective TESDA institutions, particularly those located in 57 provinces that are recipients of Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) created under RA 11203. ###

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