The Philippine Agricultural Journalists (PAJ), the second oldest organization of journalists in the country, had recognized the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) for its role in communicating agricultural developments and issues, March 29.
In ceremonies co-sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, PAJ conferred the 2015 Binhi awards on two PhilRice communication initiatives. Gusto Namin Milyonaryo Kayo, a campaign that showcases progressive rice and rice-based farmers, won the 2015 Agricultural Information and Media Campaign of the Year Award. The PhilRice Magasin, on the other hand, won the 2015 Agricultural Newsletter of the Year Award.
The Gusto Namin Milyonaryo Kayo is an initiative under the Rural Transformation Movement of PhilRice. It aims to change the mindset of the Filipino farmers through agripreneurship.
The campaign has featured successful business-minded farmers such as Rey Quisumbing from Zamboanga City and Daisy Duran from Bulacan. More details about the Campaign can be found in this link.
Noel O. Reyes, chairman of the awards committee, said that the judges ranked campaigns based on impact, medium, and key message.
Meanwhile, the PhilRice Magasin features success stories of rice and rice-based farmers who have tried various rice production technologies developed by the Institute. Additionally, the magazine also captures indigenous practices of farmers.
PhilRice Magasin is written in Filipino and designed especially for farmers. It has a comics section, which tackles several technologies being promoted by the Institute.
PhilRice’s S&T Magazine is a Hall of Fame Awardee in Binhi. In the 2014 Binhi Awards, PhilRice also won two major awards: Agricultural Radio Program (Bagong Sigla sa Agrikultura with DA-Regional Field Office 3) and Agricultural Information and Media Campaign (Be Riceponsible).
“These awards are measures of relevance of our initiatives to our major stakeholders. We will listen more so we can provide highly relevant and innovative knowledge products for our farmers,” said Jaime A. Manalo IV, former head of PhilRice’s Development Communication Division.
Former Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar gave a message during the event and served as chairman of the board of judges. Some of the biggest names in agricultural communication in the Philippines were also present.
Other awardees were staff members from, among other media outlets, the Business Mirror, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, EDGE Davao, DZMM, and ABS-CBN Davao.
Organized in September 1976, the PAJ has been conducting the Binhi Awards since 1978.
