The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations held agribusiness and farm machinery troubleshooting for farmers in Nueva Ecija on 24 November 2025.

The five-day training, dubbed Agribusiness Development and Agricultural Machinery Troubleshooting, Repair, and Maintenance, was held at the PhilMech Main Office in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, from 24 to 28 November 2025.

The activity was conducted under the Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization-Agribusiness Development along the Value Chain through Farmer Field School (SAM-ADVC-FFS) project, which aims to enhance the technical and entrepreneurial capacities of SAM-ADVC implementers, farmer-mechanics, and operation service providers in maintenance and business management of agricultural machinery.

During the first part of the training, a mentoring session on agribusiness development was held. Some 35 farmer-operators, members of local government units, and machinery service providers from Nueva Ecija and Isabela participated.

Participants were taught basic concepts on enterprises, the business model canvas, and running a business through farm machinery service provision.

In the second part of the activity, 26 participants underwent lecture-discussions and hands-on activities for troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of various machines such as water-cooled diesel engines, air-cooled diesel engines, and gasoline engines.

PhilMech Director III Joel V. Dator urged Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program beneficiaries to partner with the agency in the sustainable use of machinery received from the program.

According to Dator, “Dahil sa mga matututunan ninyo, partikular sa machinery maintenance, kakayanin n’yo nang gawin ang mga kinakailangang hakbang kung sakaling magkaroon kayo ng problema sa inyong makinarya, maging sa preventive services nito. Hindi n’yo na agad kakailanganin ang mga technician dahil kaya na ninyong tugunan ang mga ito.”

(“Because of what you will learn, particularly in machinery maintenance, you will be able to take the necessary steps if problems arise with your machines, including preventive services. You will no longer immediately need technicians because you can now address these issues yourselves.”)

Through the activity, PhilMech and FAO aim to create a group of technically skilled and business-oriented local service providers as frontliners of the SAM-ADVC-FFS approach, ensuring continuous functionality of machinery and boosting the economic empowerment of rural communities.