The Iloilo City Hall is more than just an edifice housing its top officials and the important documents of the locale. If visitors will look up to see the top of its structure, they will see the bronze statue of a woman holding a bunch of harvested rice. The statue, which is called Lin-ay sang Iloilo (Lady of Iloilo), is said to symbolize Iloilo’s culture, including its abundant rice harvest. […]

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. And in celebration of His coming, lights flood around the world, even in rice farming communities in Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija.  In Brgy. Maligaya, the tower of Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) sends off a sense of happiness as lighting the structure gathered the rice farming households, researchers, and the general public on Dec. 3. […]

Three-farmer organizations in Negros Occidental reached roughly a thousand stakeholders through the brown rice agroenterprise day and feeding program in November. These farmer-organizations are RiceBIS Negros Agrarian Reform Cooperative (RiceBIS NARCO), Sitio Timawa Farming Association (STOFA), and Tison-Aida Farmers Association (TAFA). Over 800 students participated in the feeding program conducted by RiceBIS NARCO on November 15 in Cansilayan Elementary School in Murcia, Negros Occidental, while over 200 participants were involved […]

The June 11, 2018 issue of Time Magazine captivated the world’s attention after it featured nearly a thousand drones to form its cover design. Beyond this futuristic cover, the use of technology in medicine, photography, and historical preservation were featured in the special reports uploaded in the magazine’s website. Some of those uses, like aerial photography, are already penetrating the Philippines with different possibilities especially for the agriculture sector. These […]

The majority of the production cost incurred by Filipino farmers goes to labor, making it one of the crucial factors that retard their competitiveness. For 2013-2014, our average hired labor cost was at P3.76/kg of paddy rice. In the book, Competitiveness of Philippine Rice in Asia, this amount roughly covers 30% of the P12.41 average palay production cost/kg. So much work begs to be done to pull down the labor […]

“Yung lumilipad.” This is the typical response of the farmers to the question on the most memorable part of the recent wet season Lakbay Palay, a bi-annual field day organized by PhilRice for farmers to learn about the latest rice farming technologies. The farmers pertain to the drone sprayer demonstration conducted as part of exploring the technology for rice R&D. Along with this fascination, farmers’ curiosity was also replete of […]

Villagers in this first class municipality of  Esperanza, Agusan del Sur are initiating plans to lessen pest occurrences that had been the long-running problem in the farming communities. Sharen T. Rivas, science research specialist from Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Agusan del Norte, said a campaign dubbed as Barangay IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Patrol Campaign will be launched in October. IPM entails “combining the best available tools and techniques […]

Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) applied a Facebook technology in agriculture; allowing farmers to “shoot to kill” – that is, getting rid of weeds through the phone camera. To be released within the year, the e-Damuhan utilized the typical routine of social media users: shoot, upload, and tag friends, which became popular that Facebook devised a way to easily tag friends through face recognition. Nehemiah L. Caballong, an information systems researcher […]

In support of deploying government interventions needed for the rice industry, PhilRice will serve as the operations hub of an information system starting this second semester. The system, called Philippine Rice Information System or PRISM, uses remote sensing, crop modelling technologies, cloud computing, and ICTs to map and monitor rice areas. It also provides data on rice yield, production losses due to flood or drought, occurrence of pest injuries and […]

It’s fascinating to find people who are well-versed in different aspects or those that are referred to as ‘jack-of-all-trades’. But what if this trait is applicable not only to humans, but also to rice? Thanks to the breeding team headed by Ms. Thelma F. Padolina, a retired breeder of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). Through their efforts, NSIC Rc 216, a rice variety that works like a jack-of-all-trades, is […]