Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Philippine Center for Postharvest
Development and Mechanization
CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

NEWS STORIES

PHilMech continues conduct of FS workshop
by Christine V. Ang (February 15, 2023)
PHilMech has kicked off its first feasibility study (FS) workshop of the year for the beneficiaries of the RCEF Mechanization Program - Rice Processing System (RPS), with a new, two-day workshop in Lala, Lanao del Norte.

Thirty-two farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) and local government units (LGUs) representatives served as the first batch of this year’s “Orientation-Planning Workshop on the Preparation of Feasibility Studies for the Establishment of RPS” - a continuation of the FS workshops conducted last year.

The participants, who came from the rice-producing provinces of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Bukidnon, are beneficiaries of the RPS 1, RPS 2, and RPS 3 under the 2021 and 2022 RCEF budget.

The beneficiaries will be taught the technical, marketing, organizational and management, and financial and socio-economic feasibility of operating the RPS during this two-day workshop from February 15 to 16, 2023.

Respectively, they are the Baclay Multi-Purpose Cooperative; Mahayag Farmers Integrated Multi-purpose Cooperative; Mantiliba Farmers Irrigators Association Multi-purpose Cooperative; Diplahan Multi-purpose Cooperative; Batu Farmers Multi-purpose Cooperative; Municipal Local Government Unit of Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur; Municipal Local Government Unit of Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur; Municipal Local Government Unit of Lala, Lanao del Norte; Municipal Local Government Unit of Maramag, Bukidnon; Provincial Local Government Unit of Misamis Occidental; Provincial Local Government Unit of Misamis Oriental; and Provincial Local Government Unit of Lanao del Norte.

Meanwhile, three more FS workshops are expected by the end of mid-year, with batches covering the beneficiaries in Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Sur, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Aklan, Negros Occidental, Leyte, Capiz, Iloilo, Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Surigao del Sur.

Last year, 33 FCAs and LGUs from Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, and Quirino were substantially trained through the first three batches of workshops.

As of writing, 80% of the trained beneficiaries have submitted their FS, while the remaining are yet to present their analysis until the year's first quarter.