Agroentrepreneurship has been gaining popularity over the years as more people recognize the opportunities in the agriculture sector. To support this growing interest, TESDA offers an Agroentrepreneurship course that equips individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to start their own agribusiness.
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It consists of Agroentrepreneurship NC II, NC III, and NC IV. These competency-based training programs cover topics such as crop production, animal production, food processing, marketing, and business management.
Benefits
Here are some benefits of taking Agroentrepreneurship Courses offered by TESDA:
- Agroentrepreneurship Courses by TESDA teach market identification, including consumer behavior, market trends, and niche markets.
- Learn to create effective farm production plans covering crop selection, land preparation, fertilization, and pest management.
- Develop financial management skills like budgeting, cost analysis, and record keeping for business success.
- Gain marketing skills for agro-based products, focusing on branding, packaging, and advertising.
- Courses offer hands-on training, including farm visits and market research projects to prepare for agribusiness challenges.
- Students receive a TESDA certification, validating their agroentrepreneurship skills and aiding business funding efforts.
Agroentrepreneurship NC II Course
This course boosts the skills of marketing and production coordinators, covering market opportunities, farm production planning, finance management, and marketing produce.
Units of Competencies
BASIC COMPETENCIES
- Participate in workplace communication
- Work in team environment
- Practice career professionalism
- Practice occupational health and safety procedures
COMMON COMPETENCIES
- Apply Safety Measures in Farm Operations
- Perform Estimation and Basic Calculation
- Provide Quality Customer Service
- Comply with Quality and Ethical Standards
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Assess Market Opportunities
- Establish Farm Production Plan
- Handle Finances
- Market Produce
Career Opportunity
A person who has achieved this qualification is competent to be a:
- Marketing Coordinator
- Production Coordinator
Training Duration
- 20 hours – Basic Competencies
- 75 hours – Common Competencies
- 144 hours – Core Competencies
Total: 239 hours
Qualifications
Trainees or students wishing to gain entry into this course should possess the following requirements:
- Ability to read and write
- Ability to communicate both orally and in writing
- Basic mathematical skills
Agroentrepreneurship NC III Course
This course aims to improve Farmer Leaders’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills. It covers engaging with industry stakeholders, ensuring product supply, managing finances, involving farmers in training, and conducting collective marketing.
Units of Competencies
The units of competency comprising this qualification include the following:
BASIC COMPETENCIES
- Lead Workplace Communication
- Lead Small Teams
- Develop and Practice Negotiation Skills
- Solve Problems Related to Work Activities
- Use Mathematical Concepts and Techniques
- Use Relevant Technologies
COMMON COMPETENCIES
- Apply Safety Measures in Farm Operations
- Perform Estimation and Basic Calculation
- Provide Quality Customer Service
- Comply with Quality and Ethical Standards
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Engage Agroenterprise (AE) Industry Stakeholders
- Ensure Product Supply
- Implement Financial Management
- Mobilize Farmers Participation in
Career Opportunities
An individual who has attained this qualification is equipped to serve as:
- Farmer Leader
Training Duration
- 22 hours – Basic Competencies
- 75 hours – Common Competencies
- 348 hours – Core Competencies
Total: 445 hours
Qualifications
Prospective trainees or students seeking entry into this course should meet the following qualifications:
- Proficiency in oral and written communication.
- Ability to perform mensuration and calculation.
Additionally, candidates should fulfill any one of the following criteria:
- Holder of AE NC II, or an NC in Crop Production, Animal Production, Aquaculture, or Food Processing.
- Two years of experience within the last five years in any of the mentioned areas (Agroenterprise, Crop Production, Animal Production, Aquaculture, or Food Processing).
- Graduate of agriculture-related courses in any of the mentioned areas (Agroenterprise, Crop Production, Animal Production, Aquaculture, or Food Processing).
Agroentrepreneurship NC IV Course
This course aims to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of agroenterprise facilitators. It covers empowering farmers, engaging stakeholders, mobilizing communities, and monitoring activities.
Units of Competencies
The units of competency comprising this qualification include the following:
BASIC COMPETENCIES
- Utilize specialized communication skills
- Develop teams and individuals
- Apply problem-solving techniques in the workplace
- Collect, analyze, and organize information
- Plan and organize work
- Promote environmental protection
COMMON COMPETENCIES
- Apply safety measures in farm operations
- Perform estimation and basic calculation
- Provide quality customer service
- Comply with quality and ethical standards
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Capacitate farmers
- Facilitate engagement of the agroenterprise stakeholders
- Mobilize agroenterprise community
- Monitor and evaluate agroenterprise activities
Career Opportunity
An individual who has attained this qualification is qualified to serve as:
- Agroenterprise Facilitator
Training Duration
- 24 hours – Basic Competencies
- 75 hours – Common Competencies
- 616 hours – Core Competencies
Total: 715 hours
Qualifications
Prospective trainees or students seeking admission to this course should meet the following requirements:
- Completion of senior high school or possession of AE NC III
- Proficiency in both oral and written communication
- Ability to perform mensuration and calculations
AgroEntrepreneurship NC II Online Course
Entrepreneurship is in-demand today, especially in agriculture. The TESDA Online Program offers the Agro-Entrepreneurship NC II Online Course, equipping aspiring agri-entrepreneurs with essential skills.
Modules
There are 5 modules in the Agro-Entrepreneurship NC II course, which will help you gain knowledge and skills in agribusiness management. These modules are designed to equip you with entrepreneurial competencies that can be applied in different areas of agriculture and entrepreneurship.
Module 1: Introduction to Agro-Entrepreneurship
This module provides essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes for agro-entrepreneurship. It covers tasks such as market opportunity assessment, farm production planning, financial management, and marketing farm produce.
Unit 1: Getting Ready for the Workplace
Lesson 1: Working in an Agro-Enterprise
Lesson 2: Communicating in the Workplace
Lesson 3: Professional Work Habits
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Define agro-entrepreneurship in the Philippine context
- Apply the concepts and principles of effective workplace communication
- Identify important work-related documents
- Enumerate the characteristics and skills of an agro-entrepreneur
- Set and meet work priorities
- Identify ways to maintain professional growth and development
- Work as a team member
Unit 2: Fundamentals of Agro-entrepreneurship
Lesson 1: Health and Safety in the Workplace
Lesson 2: Estimation and Basic Calculation
Lesson 3: Customer Service Excellence
Lesson 4: Quality and Ethical Standards
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Identify hazards in the workplace
- Practice safety measures in the workplace
- Enumerate systems and units of measurement
- Estimate labor requirements and materials in farm activities
- Compute for the cost of undertaking farm activities
- Practice principles of customer service
- Identify standards for quality
- Identify ways to ensure quality
Module 2: Assessing Market Opportunities
This module provides an overview of assessing market opportunities, covering the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude. It includes an introduction to fundamental marketing concepts and the process of preparing a market plan.
Unit 1: Introduction to Marketing
Lesson 1: Market, Customer, and Product
Lesson 2: The Supply Chain
Lesson 3: Value Creation and Addition
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Define the terms: market, buyer, and product;
- Explain the concept of supply chain;
- Explain the significance of value creation and addition.
- Enumerate value-adding activities in the supply chain.
Unit 2: Preparing the Market Plan
Lesson 1: Conducting Market Research
Lesson 2: Identifying the Target Market
Lesson 3: Defining the Marketing
Lesson 4: Deciding on a Marketing Strategy
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Analyze the agro-enterprise through the conduct of a market visit
- Analyze the agro-enterprise through the conduct of internal environment analysis
- Write a SMART marketing objective
- Identify target market through segmentation
- Formulate a marketing strategy for an agro-enterprise
- Formulate a contingency plan for an agro-enterprise
- Create a marketing plan using the provided template
Module 3: Establishing the Farm Production Plan
This module provides an overview of establishing a farm production plan, covering topics such as farm operations, assessment procedures, components of a production plan, supplier selection, and plan review.
Unit 1: Preparing the Farm Production Plan
Lesson 1: Farm Production Activities and Farm Products
Lesson 2: Conducting Basic Farm Assessment
Lesson 3: Components of a Farm Production Plan
Lesson 4: Selecting Suppliers and Providers for Farm Production
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Enumerate products and activities for various types of farm operations;
- Conduct a basic farm assessment
- Verbalize vision, mission, and goals for an agro-enterprise;
- Set farm production targets
- Identify farm production requirements
- Compute cost for farm production
- Schedule farm activities
- Create a farm production plan using the provided template
- Select suppliers and providers for farm production based on the Farm Production Plan.
Unit 2: Reviewing and Improving the Farm Production Plan
Lesson 1: Reviewing the Farm Production Plan
Lesson 2: Improving the Farm Production Plan
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Explain the significance of monitoring and assessing farm production performance
- Describe methods in monitoring and assessing farm production performance
- Give examples of existing standards for farm operations and agro-enterprises
- Demonstrate the adjustment of farm targets based on the assessment of farm production performance
- Apply corrective measures based on the result of the review
- Gather best practices for the improvement of the agro-enterprise
Module 4: Handling Finances
This module provides an overview of financial management in farm production. It covers basic finance terms and principles, as well as topics such as financial service providers, loan and cooperative membership applications. Additionally, it explores investment options for farm operators.
Unit 1: Preparing the Budget Plan
Lesson 1: Basic Terms and Principles in Finance
Lesson 2: Computing the Farm Budget
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Define basic terms in finance
- Prepare the budget plan
- Compute income, expenses, and profit
- Compute break-even price and yield
Unit 2: Applying for Financial Service Providers
Lesson 1: Financial Service Providers
Lesson 2: Applying for Loans
Lesson 3: Applying for Membership in Cooperatives
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Identify and select financial service providers;
- Familiarize with loan application procedures and requirements;
- Familiarize with cooperative membership procedures and requirements.
Unit 3: Investing the Farm Income
Lesson 1: Investment Options
Lesson 2: Computing for Investments
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Familiarize with investment options for the agro-enterprise.
- Define and compute the net income, dividend, patronage refund, and interest on savings
Module 5: Marketing Farm Produce
This module focuses on marketing farm produce, including price monitoring, market selection, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and product preparation for selling.
UNIT 1: Monitoring the Market
Lesson 1: Determining Major Buyers and Trading Centers
Lesson 2: Price Monitoring
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Determine major buyers and trading centers for his/her agro-enterprise;
- Enumerate sources of price information;
- Describe data-gathering and recording of price information
UNIT 2: Selling Farm Produce
Lesson 1: Applying Market Strategies
Lesson 2: Preparing Produce for Selling
Lesson 3: Pricing and Selling Farm Produce
Upon completion of this unit, the learner will possess the ability to:
- Identify possible value-adding activities to farm produce
- Identify business development service providers for the agro-enterprise
- Familiarize with marketing arrangements for agro-enterprises
- Describe the common procedures in the preparation of produce for selling
- Compute price for farm produce
- Demonstrate negotiation skills
- Verbalize sales, terms, and conditions for agro-enterprise
- Demonstrate the recording of sales transactions
Note: Upon completion of each module, or specific modules, you will be awarded a certificate to recognize your achievements and demonstrate your expertise in the respective subject matter. These certificates serve as a testament to your dedication and commitment to continuous learning.
Summary
The Agroentrepreneurship courses NC II, III, and IV provide skills and knowledge for agribusiness success, covering communication, teamwork, safety, financial management, marketing, and leadership. Graduates can pursue roles like marketing coordinator, production coordinator, farmer leader, or agroenterprise facilitator. Basic skills in communication and math are required for admission. Completing these courses with TESDA certification boosts employability and supports agriculture industry growth in communities.