(FILE PHOTO) TESDA chief Isidro Lapeña. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 38,517 farmers and their dependents nationwide have completed various training programs under the Rice Extension Services Program (RESP) last year, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) announced Monday.
Under the RESP cluster, Tesda provides training on rice crop production, modern rice farming techniques, seed production, farm mechanization, and knowledge or technology transfer through farm schools nationwide.
The training program has given scholars P160 daily allowance, free training, and assessment, including entrepreneurship training and insurance.
The agency is eyeing to include two additional qualifications under the RESP this year: Digital Agriculture Course and Pest and Nutrient Management.
For 2022, Tesda is planning to open more than 50,000 scholarship slots under RESP.
Tesda Secretary Isidro Lapeña said that the agency is continuously pursuing agriculture projects around the country.
“Tesda is actively pursuing agriculture programs nationwide. Food sufficiency is a concern not only of the country’s agriculture areas and rice producing regions. This a cause of concern of all areas, including urbanized cities,” he said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with other government agencies and the private sector to continue giving training and employment opportunities to our rice farmers,” added Lapeña.
In September 2019, Tesda Secretary Lapeña signed a circular defining the implementing guidelines on RESP initiatives to be carried out by the agency, in accordance with Republic Act (RA) No. 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act.
Section 13 of RA 11203 establishes the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or Rice Fund, which requires the national government to allocate an annual P10 billion budget to concerned departments, including TESDA, over the next six years to help increase the competitive advantage, productivity, and income of Filipino rice farmers in the wake of the Philippine rice trade liberalization. Jericho Zafra, INQUIRER.net trainee
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