Written by the Web Team
Farmer-leaders of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) project in Region III are getting ready for a grant turn-over through training facilitated by Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, March 14-16. 
The training, a component of Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS) program, equips the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in Central Luzon with skills needed in the safe operation of farm implements, which the Department will soon distribute in the area.
Ming Ocampo, DAR training coordinator, said farmers will receive, among others such as tractor, harvester, and thresher, to help solve labor scarcity during peak operations and ensure the quality of rice harvests.
DAR’s banner program also aims to increase ARBs’ income, farm productivity, and crop value through farm service facilities
Aside from training farmer-leaders on safe farm machine operations and maintenance, PalayCheck system, an integrated farming system that uses cost-effective technologies, was also be promoted to the farmers.
Lea dR. Abaoag, division head of PhilRice Technology Management and Services Division, said “dissemination of rice information and cost-effective technologies is hoped to be accelerated through the farmer networks that ARCCESS will create.”
Through an agreement with DAR, PhilRice will also provide technical skills to farmer-leaders and open access to rice information and decision support tools through PhilRice’s Text Center and Pinoy Rice Knowledge Bank.
