City of Ilagan, May 28, 2024- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority participated the RCEF Seed Distribution Kick-off Ceremony and Program Briefings of the Department of Agriculture at Mallig, Isabela on May 15, 2024. This event marks the commencement of the RCEF Seed Program for the upcoming planting season, highlighting the government's commitment to supporting rice farmers and enhancing rice productivity in the country.

Key officials from the Department of Agriculture to include the PhilRice, local government officials, farmer beneficiaries and other stakeholders attended the said Kick-off Program. The opening remarks emphasized the significance of the RCEF Seed Program in ensuring food security and improving the livelihoods of Filipino farmers. 

TESDA Isabela was represented by Merly M. Viernes, the TESDA Isabela Scholarship focal person was one of the panelists during the forum. Different issues and concerns were asked during the forum and soil analysis was one of the concerns questioned during the forum.

A detailed briefing on the RCEF Seed Program was provided, outlining its objectives, implementation strategies, and expected outcomes. The program aims to distribute high-quality, certified rice seeds to farmers, improving their yield and competitiveness in the market. PhilRice highlighted the accompanying technical support and training programs available for farmers. 

Merly M. Viernes was given the opportunity to discuss the RCEF Extension Program which is the training component which being provided by TESDA.  She discussed that the annual budget of 700M TESDA RESP fund is allocated to scholarships and administrative costs of 3% of the annual budget. The primary beneficiaries are the rice farmers, farmworkers, and dependents listed in the Registry of System for Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA); rice farmer cooperative and associations and members in target provinces and municipalities; PhilRice seed component beneficiaries and PhilMech mechanization beneficiaries. Also, she discussed the scholarships and programs under RCEF being provided by TESDA, to include free skills training, free national competency assessment (for WTR programs) with a training support fund of 160/day, and free entrepreneurship training.