Rice farmers in Aurora and Bohol have increased their average yields by 1t/ha or more through the high-quality seeds they received through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program.  Aurora’s provincial agriculturist Arnold Novicio reported that their yield rose from 3.5t/ha 10 years ago to 4.5-5t/ha today.  Lorebien Lagapa, provincial rice seed program coordinator of Bohol, said their yield also improved from 2.73t/ha in 2022 to 3.6t/ha in 2023. […]

The notion of debt often carries a heavy burden of negativity and caution as Benjamin Franklin said, “If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some; for [they] that go a borrowing go a sorrowing.” For the South Agusan Multipurpose Cooperative (SAMPCO), the word “debt” did not conjure images of financial distress and burdensome obligations. Cooperative officials instead envisioned it as a potent instrument for […]

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) is now ready to distribute 4.27 million bags (20kg/bag) of certified inbred rice seeds, expanding its program coverage from 42 to 77 provinces within all rice-producing regions in the country. Jointly funded by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program and the DA’s National Rice Program (NRP) with P3 billion and P700 million, respectively, the certified inbred rice seed […]

Undertakings, no matter how similar they may seem, will always require new strategies and perseverance to succeed.  The Davao Multipurpose Seed Producers Cooperative (DAMSEPCO) and South Nueva Ecija Seed Growers Multipurpose Coop (South NESGMPC) are not new to government procurements. Since their establishment, providing seeds for public and private programs has been their bread and butter. So, when DA-PhilRice contracted them as partners in the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) […]

A monitoring system developed for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program is awarded as the country’s Best in Future of Connectedness in the 2022 Future Enterprise Awards by the International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC, a global provider of market intelligence and advisory and information and communications technology (ICT)-related services, said the “award is given to organizations who transformed their system digitally to ensure that people, things, applications and […]

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) urges farmers to follow the recommended seeding rate in rice production for better yields and reduced production cost. Seeding rate refers to the amount of rice seeds planted per hectare. DA-PhilRice recommends 40kg per hectare for transplanted rice while 60-80kg per hectare is promoted for direct-seeded. “When this is followed, rice plants grow healthier because it can receive sufficient sunlight […]

At a glance, the chief goal of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program seems pretty simple – to distribute certified seeds to rice farmers. Looking deeper, it is not an easy pursuit, especially if we add the pandemic to the equation. Since the start of the program in September 2019, various partners in the field mushroomed. Among them were the local government units (LGU). Keeping it wide In […]

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) is set to distribute 1.8 million (M) bags of certified seeds to more than 740,000 farmers this 2022 wet season through the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program.

I am Monica L. Cab-ad, 58, a rice and vegetable farmer for life. Even as a child, I knew that I would stay in this kind of work. It was my family’s identity. For years now, I had been managing a 1,500m2 land that can be reached through a 30-min walk from our home in Sitio Tumpic, Labueg, Kapangan, Benguet. It is owned by my cousin but we agreed that […]

Children seldom mention agriculture-related careers when they talk about their future dream jobs. Studies reveal that the youth’s disinterest is mainly because of their perception that farming is unprofitable, that there are so many risks tied to it, and that it is a difficult back-breaking job. This is a global phenomenon. Data from the International Labor Organization showed a decreasing trend of youth involvement in agriculture. In 1988, 48.9% of […]