The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) – Seed and Extension Programs conducted Social Mobilization and CapacityBuilding Workshops in September through October 2021.
With 145 participants from local government units (LGUs) of Cavite, Laguna, and Quezon, the workshops laid out challenges and opportunities for better RCEF implementation.
According to Senior Agriculturist Sheryl M. Sinense of Tagkawayan, Quezon, the workshop made her aware of the challenges other municipalities are facing during seed distribution and the solutions done by other LGUs.
Preference of rice varieties to be planted was one of the challenges faced by LGUs. To settle it, they have learned to consider farmers’ preferences and advised seed growers to produce the preferred varieties.
RCEF Los Baños coordinator Jacqueline Lee Canilao explained that training and workshops capacitate participants to be more effective and efficient in delivering government services.
The LGUs thanked RCEF and other partner agencies. Agricultural Technologist Jessica An M. Morales of Imus City, Cavite observed that partnering with RCEF made farmers become more active and easier to tap.
All the 79 cities and municipalities identified as RCEF areas in CALABARZON were invited to the workshops, which were conducted either online or face-to-face for Laguna.
