As part of the 2024 Asia and the Pacific Food Security Forum, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), participating guests of the Sustainable Mechanization-based Solutions for Climate Smart Agriculture session visited the Agricultural Machinery Testing and Evaluation Center (AMTEC) for a side event last April 12, 2024. 

The delegates were received by Dr. Arthur L. Fajardo, AMTEC Director, and some of the resident test engineers, through an exhibition of the current practices and equipment utilized in the testing and evaluation operations of the Center. As the country’s premiere and reference testing center for agricultural and fisheries machinery, the event was vital to the sub-group as it aims to showcase the experiences of the Philippines, Pakistan, and Nepal in agricultural mechanization initiatives.

In attendance were Dr. Shreemat Shrestha, the Chair of the Asian and Pacific Network for Testing of Agricultural Machinery (ANTAM) and Director of the National Agricultural Engineering Research Centre (NAERC)- Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Ms. Amina Bajwa, Economist & Food Security Specialist of the Prime Minister’s Office of Pakistan, and Ms. Noriko Sato, ADB’s Senior Natural Resources Specialist and project officer for ADB-financed projects and technical assistance (TA) in the natural resources and agriculture sector in the Central and West Asian region. 

The group was also joined by Mr. Marco Silvestri, Deputy Head a.i. of the Center for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

Moreover, the guests also served as speakers and panelists of the said session, along with Dr. Fajardo and Dr. Rossana Marie C. Amongo, UPLB’s Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development. They tackled the potential benefits of mechanization for climate-smart and competitive agriculture by showcasing the activities of the three countries and their takeaways from the technical collaboration with CSAM and ANTAM.

This year’s Food Security Forum focused on investing in the future of the climate-food-nature nexus through knowledge-sharing from on-the-ground experiences and cases among various countries in the region. 

As a public service unit of the university, AMTEC maintains its commitment to providing technical support and testing services to its clients and partners in the private, government, and academic sectors.