TESDA Kalinga to upskill 125 Rice farmers in modern farming

LOAKAN—(July 12, 2021) – The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Provincial Training Center of Kalinga started to upskill one hundred (100) rice farmers from Kalinga on June 23, 2021.

The training is a collaborative effort between TESDA, the Department of Agriculture, and various Farmers Associations in the Cordillera.

The program has different training sites with a 5,000 sq. meter area to accommodate the entire twenty-five (25) trainees per batch through face-to-face training in Production of Quality Inbred Rice, Seed Certification, and Farm Mechanization.

The 100 farmer-trainees came from Cabaritan Rural Development Association located in Tabuk Kalinga, Cagawayan Farmers Association in Pinukpuk, Kalinga, Kinalabas Farmers Association in Sucbot, Pinukpuk, Kalinga, and farmers from Lanna, Tabuk, Kalinga.

The training will be conducted once a week, facilitated by the farmer-experts from the Agricultural Training Institute of La Trinidad.

Ruth Bambico, Information Officer of PTC Kalinga said that the training aims to raise rice farmers’ productivity, profitability, and global competitiveness.

“Instead of traditional farming like the use of Carabao for plowing, these farmers are taught modern ways of farming using new technology. Through these innovations it will relieve the burden of farmers who are manually plowing all day and will increase their income,” she said.

The training duration is seventeen (17) days and it is expected to conclude on October 23, 2021. The final batch of the remaining  25 farmers will start their training on October  25, 2021. ###