Written by the Web Team   In recognition of the importance of its partners in developing high-yielding and cost-reducing technologies for farmers toward productivity, PhilRice reinforces its ties with its local and international rice R&D counterparts during the 2014 Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI) Expert Workshop on Development of Rice Production Techniques for Increase of Self-Sufficiency of Staple Food. The AFACI workshop appraises the efforts of member-countries with […]

Written by the Web Team   A Filipino scientist based at the New York University reiterated the importance of a strong base in science and technological research for the economy`s sustained growth. “To turn our back on science and technology will inevitably condemn [the Philippines] to perpetual economic backwardness,”  Dr. Michael D. Purugganan, Professor of Biology and the Dean for Science at New York University, said in the Thought Leaders […]

Written by the Web Team   The Philippines has to sharply scale up investments in research and development (R&D) to compete in the ASEAN Economic Community, University of the Philippines (UP) professors said. Dr. Ernesto Pernia, Dr. Ramon Clarete, and Dr. Gisela Padilla-Concepcion stressed that “economic growth can be effectively sustained by spending for technological innovation that results in new processes, products and markets, and innovation in turn can come […]

Written by the Web Team   Nueva Ecija rice farmers are up to the challenge of beating the record set by Isabela farmers in the dry season competition of Palayabangan, a national search for the best practices that can produce a harvest of 10t/ha  at P5 a kilo or 10-5 challenge.  Producing rice is priced at P11 a kilo while the average national yield is about 4 t/ha. In 2014 […]

Written by the Web Team   Supporting the Be RICEponsible campaign, the Central Luzon Media Association (CLMA) in Nueva Ecija promoted brown rice to sports enthusiasts in a Fun Run held at the Old Capitol Building, Cabanatuan City, July 12. CLMA, headed by Mel D. Ciriaco, awarded the first 100 finishers in the 10-k run with brown rice, the unpolished or partly milled rice with a nutty flavor and has […]

Written by the Web Team   Rice straws, which are generally burned after harvesting, are now made profitable with farmers` wives using them as basic material for mushroom production. Following a recent Specialized Training Course on Mushroom and Vermiculture Production conducted by PhilRice in Midsayap, women in Bual Norte and Bual Sur are encouraging more farmers` wives to join them in forming an organization that will engage in mushroom commercial […]

Written by the Web Team   Flexibility is one thing that rice can boast of as a living organism, PhilRice Executive Director Eufemio T. Rasco Jr. said. This he noted in the midst of abnormal weather challenges that confront rice production. In a statement Rasco noted the ability of rice to withstand a wide range of ecosystems, given appropriate technologies and environments. “Rice can actually survive disasters. We just need […]

Written by Eufemio T Rasco Jr   In the few instances that the Philippines has achieved rice sufficiency in recent years, sufficiency was achieved for only one or two years, after which a long period of deficit follows. The issue, therefore, is not whether sufficiency can be achieved but if it can be sustained. To address the issue of sustainability, one needs to look at the pattern of supply and […]

Written by the Web Team   Research and development contributes to 25% yield growth in rice, said the authors of the “Securing Rice, Reducing Poverty” book with the then Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Director and now National Economic and Development Authority Chief Arsenio Balisacan among the authors. Balisacan and associates highlighted the need for increased budget in rice R&D by closing the […]