Intercropping Azolla with rice can help lessen farmers’ fertilizer expenses in rice production in irrigated areas, a research by the Department of Agriculture–Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) showed. Azolla, a fern that thrives in freshwater, maintains a symbiotic relationship with the blue-green algae, Anabaena azollae. The algae provide nitrogen (N) to the fern and the fern provides a habitat for the algae. This symbiosis allows the conversion of nitrogen into ammonia, which can […]

Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, lauded DA-PhilRice for accomplishing its target in delivering high-quality inbred rice seeds, conducting extension work, and innovating its approaches under the RCEF Seed and Extension Programs despite the pandemic. As of August 31, 2021, DA-PhilRice, in coordination with LGU Agricultural Offices, have distributed more than 7M bags of free certified seeds to almost 1.2M farmers since the […]

The Revitalized Gulayan sa Barangay Project 2 in Nueva Ecija is now in progress following the success of its Phase 1 at Lupao municipality. The project covers three  major components: crop diversification, community food hubs establishment, and East-West Seed-PhilRice rice-veggie techno-demo on Gulayan sa Palayan. The project’s implementing guidelines are covered by a Memorandum of Understanding signed by DA-PhilRice, East-West Seed Company, Inc., Municipality of Lupao, and Lupao Vegetable Growers […]

The UN launched the first Food Systems Summit as a call for a global transformation in food systems. World leaders deem the current food systems as unresponsive to overcoming hunger, unhealthy, and destructive to the environment. Amidst these challenges, transformations are currently edging on the fields with diverse crops, cultivated in a safe fashion and sold in a fair market by farmers who were organized and supported through government interventions. […]

More Filipino consumers are becoming aware of the health benefits of low-glycemic index (GI) rice according to a study by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) on consumers’ awareness, behavior, and knowledge of rice and rice-based products. “Results of our study showed that majority of our respondents from all 17 regions in the country had high level of awareness on GI,” Riza G. Abilgos-Ramos, supervising science research specialist […]

The recent commercial propagation approval of Golden Rice was lauded by global experts as an indicator of the Philippines’ leadership role in agricultural biotechnology in the ASEAN region. The country’s pioneering path began in 1990 with the establishment of its first biosafety policy and was further strengthened by Administrative Order No. 8, Series of 2002 (AO8), which opened the pathways for “local agriculture to benefit from the safe and responsible […]

Darkness starts to engulf the remaining light of the day but the rustles have not slowed down a bit inside the Pinagbuklod na Adhika Multipurpose Cooperative (PNAMC) facility in Macarse, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. The last sack of palay was poured into the brown rice milling machine. Several women can be seen filling plastic bags labeled “Macarse Brown Rice”. In a transformed food system that is gender-responsive, opportunities are given to […]

Agriculture Secretary and UN Food Security Systems national convenor, Dr. William D. Dar, has urged the public and private sectors to partner with his Department in achieving sustainable food systems in the country. “Beyond food production, food systems also comprise processing, distribution, preparation, consumption, the market and institutional networks for governance, and the socio-economic and environmental outcomes of these activities,” he said in his speech during the National Food Systems […]

The mantra “teamwork makes great field work” works for 27 male field farmers at our Agronomy, Soils, and Plant Physiology Division (ASPPD) who take charge of all farm operations of the 8 core and externally funded projects of the division. Each laborer maintains his own field experiment, but they also team up when necessary as the nature of the task like transplanting demands. Their activities include bund construction, installation of […]

DA-PhilRice has launched the Wok Tok PalayCheck System Challenge to make all staff understand and live up to its technologies integrated into the system. Staff from CES and seven branches participating in the challenge will have to Wok Tok or “walk the talk” in this game-changer campaign. Executive Director John C. de Leon explained, “this challenge is expected to be seamless and will not be treated as a new activity. […]