President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the ceremonial rice harvesting at Mandili, Candaba, Pampanga using a rice combine harvester.

RCH is a mobile rice harvesting machine that combines harvesting, threshing, cleaning and bagging in one operation.

It is climate change resilient and is suitable for local conditions. It saves harvesting time as it can operate for up to 3 hectares per day.

RCH requires less labor and can ensure lower postharvest losses compared to manual harvesting.

On February 3, together with Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Franciso P. Tiu  Laurel Jr., Undersecretary for Operations Roger Navarro, Assistant Secretary,  Assistant Secretary and DA Spokesperson Arnel De Mesa, and DA III OIC-Regional Executive Director Dr. Eduardo L. Lapuz, Jr. ### (photos by Jay Morales, DA-OSEC)