Palay farming to flourish in Phl — RCEF

The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund on Tuesday said it is banking on young boys and girls who have been religiously attending training courses conducted under the RCEF in private farm schools accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

RCEF noted that in recent years, there have been increasing numbers of youngsters interested in farming that is based on science and technology.

These youngsters had their eyes opened wide with TESDA vocational scholarships for farmers and the expanded training programs of the Department of Agriculture, funded by the RCEF program, which included personal allowances.

One such school, the Myriad Farms Agribusiness Skills Training and Assessment Center in Guimba, Nueva Ecija, the RCEF reported that over 50 farmers "graduated" last 7 September, from their 14-weekend sessions with clearly half of them young boys and girls who took interest in palay farming from their parents, relatives, and neighbors.

The TESDA training program's theme is "Strengthening Filipino farmers through modern farming technologies."

Myriad is an 11-hectare farm school and technology training that has pending application as a farm-tourism site with the Department of Tourism.

Nueva Ecija has one of the biggest scholarship allocations from TESDA with 120 farm schools; Ilocos Norte with 25; La Union, 31; and Mt. Province with 13, explained Dr. Alvin Ytorralde, TESDA provincial director.

They trained in production of high-quality inbred rice, seed certification, and farm mechanization (with 50 graduates); and pest and nutrient management (with 25 graduates). A third module is the digital agriculture, which is slated for October.

Agriculture is the topmost priority of the Marcos administration, especially with farm school training, Ytorralbe said.

The first farmers training school in Nueva Ecija was set up in 1993 by the Department of Agriculture, recalled Acting Provincial Agriculturist Dr. Joebeat Agliam.

TESDA bestowed them with QR-coded graduation certificates that could be their gateway to work in farms abroad or become tools for transferring technological skills as well as hold training for those that have not undergone such but have an interest in adapting technologies and better farming practices.

Deputy Executive Director Karen T. Barroga of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) on the other hand, mentioned that Nueva Ecija is the province with the most certification for good agricultural practices (GAP), which is needed to compete in the global market.

Barroga exhorted the farmer graduates to apply their learnings in their farms and teach their neighbors and relatives the new skills.

She explained that the strategy behind the Masagana Rice Industry Development Program lies in clustering the farmers so that all government interventions (of inputs, nutrients, credit, extension, and marketing support) will be channeled to the group's leadership and for banks and private sector partners to deal with just one group instead of individual farmers.