PILI, Camarines Sur- The activities for Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or RCEF have gone online too.

According to the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute Bicol Assistant Center Director Vivien Carable, who serves as a team leader of RCEF, they have utilized social media to continue their activities, which were preempted by the global pandemic.

It was made possible through ATI Bicol #Sarabay Channel which is streamed over Facebook Live.

The RCEF was created through the Republic Act 11203 or Rice Trade Liberalization Law. It was promulgated to lift rice import restrictions to make the food staple more affordable to Filipinos.

RCEF has a PHP 10 billion annual appropriation for the next six years to be allocated and disbursed for its four major components, namely; mechanization, seed distribution, credit, and extension service. ATI plays a significant part in the latter.

The activities conducted online last month were the Briefer on the Rice Tariffication Law, the RCEF Rice Extension Services Component of ATI, the RCEF Extension Component & 2020 Target of Activities, and the RCEF Mechanization Component.

These activities generated more than 4,000 views and reached more than 13,000 people.

Ms. Carable also added that they will go on the air soon with the launching of the school-on-air and information caravan.