DA seeks to boost mechanized farming in PHL through South Korea’s ODA TASK program

THE government will be undertaking a three-year Official Development Assistance (ODA) program that seeks to provide guidance to 10-selected machinery manufacturers and fabricators in the country.

Under ODA, the Technology Advice and Solutions from Korea (TASK) will be carried out to aid local Filipino companies in resolving onsite technical difficulties of machineries and other farm facilities.

The initiative is led by the Korea Association of Machinery Industry (KOAMI) with Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative (Kamico) and Department of Agriculture (Da’s)-philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (Philmech) as implementing partners.

Through TASK, beneficiaries will be upskilled through the technical know how and experiences of experts from KOAMI, Kamico and Philmech.

DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that the TASK visit would establish a strong network for the local manufacturers upon completion of the TASK.

The meeting will focus on the forthcoming visit of the selected 10 local companies to Korea to gain actual experiences and train under different manufacturing companies.

“This undertaking will foster cooperation and collaboration among all players that will ultimately result in a mechanized and modernized Philippine agriculture,” de Mesa said.

“The ODA from South Korea is in line with the Philippined’s threeyear Agriculture Development Program as DA continues to push for the mechanization of Philippine agriculture to address the gaps in the sector,” he added.