QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is encouraging more Filipino youth to avail of the agriculture-related training courses being offered by the agency.

The agriculture sector is one of the priority sectors of TESDA, as identified in the National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan (NTESDP) 2018-2022.

According to Deputy Director General Aniceto D. Bertiz III, TESDA has been providing scholarship programs on rice farming under the Program on Accelerating Farm School Establishment (PAFSE) and Rice Extension Services Program (RESP).

The PAFSE is being implemented as part of TESDA’s enterprise-based training or “EBT to the Max” initiative to promote the proliferation of farm schools, and the use of a “farmer to farmer, learning by doing” methodology.

The RESP, on the other hand, is being implemented under the Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act, signed in 2019.

Under the RESP, TESDA offers 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.

Bertiz also shared that the TESDA has an ongoing partnership with Israel’s Agro-Studies to provide trainers and professors in the agriculture sector to pursue advanced studies on modernized farming.

“TESDA continues to improve and expand its services particularly in the agriculture sector to help the country achieve food self-sufficiency,” Bertiz said.

“We also develop more training courses for agriculture including the post-harvest training programs for them to market their products,” Bertiz added. (TESDA/PIA-NCR)