Kanin is life! (Rice is life!) No ulam is enticing and satisfying enough when it is served without rice. White rice makes every ulam extra special. But the milling and polishing processes it undergoes lower its nutritional value due to the removal of rice bran and rice germ. This now calls for consumers to consider eating the healthier and more colorful alternatives to white rice. العب روليت As we put […]

“Thesising” millennial? Researching for grad school or work? Or are you simply a reading junkie? Try visiting the PhilRice library and you might be surprised on how useful and interesting are its acquisitions and services. Remote and physical access Non-PhilRice staff who wishes to explore the library contents can first go to its OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) to scan for books and use xCardBox, an online cataloguing system, for […]

Bountiful harvest starts from good seeds. However, potentials of rice seeds are not optimized owing to misconceptions. Here are the top misunderstandings about rice seeds and a version of truth: Misconception #1: All rice varieties are suitable everywhere. There are over 300 inbred and hybrid Philippine rice varieties bred based on certain conditions. Their suitability depends on environment, planting season, and field conditions. Each variety is unique as it is […]

Filipinos love entertainment; noted in the world for singing and joking even when faced with adversaries. As the country fulfills its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Philippine Rice Research Institute stirred awareness on Rice Tariffication Law (RA 11203) through theater play. In an attempt to create conversation with farmers during its recent Lakbay Palay, it stimulated not only the emotions but also the natural curiosity of a typical […]

In Region II, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in San Mateo, Isabela banks on radio to reach farmers in rural areas, which the station uses to relay updated agricultural information to increase farmers’ productivity and profitability. Based on a PhilRice study, radio is included in the farmers’ top three sources of agricultural information next to local government units and fellow farmers. For six years, PhilRice Isabela sustains its School-On-the-Air […]

Glyza’s classmates, also TecVoc students in Baluan National Highschool, show off their school’s very own version of a rice hull carbonizer. Glyza Bandiola, 18, loves planting and farming ever since she was a kid.  But is this enough to sustain this interest? The youth from General Santos said that her teachers in school inspire her to take a career in agriculture. “[Our teachers’] passion is very evident in the way […]

Earthworms are more than just inhabitants of the ground. In rice fields, their abundance and behavior can tell if a soil is healthy or polluted. A recent PhilRice study showed that the response of a certain species of earthworm can reveal possible chemical contamination of irrigated rice areas due to excessive and continued butachlor herbicide application. Butachlor is an active ingredient of herbicides, commonly used by farmers to control weeds […]

Bountiful harvest starts with the right seeds. This is why farmers like Ricardo Martinez, 59, of Bacolor, Pampanga is sometimes overwhelmed with the choices that he has to take before planting time. For which is just the fitting variety to plant among the more than 300 rice varieties approved by the National Seed Industry Council (then Philippine Seed Board) since 1977? Choose right With almost 30 years of farming experience, […]

“The trick: if the soil is saturated and golden apple snails (GAS) cannot swim, then they cannot damage the rice.” This is how Leonardo V. Marquez, expert from PhilRice Crop Protection Division,  simplified the results of their 2017 study that showed controlled irrigation as the most practical and effective management strategy against GAS infestation. Results show that for transplanted and direct-seeded rice, saturated field condition treatment yielded higher or comparable […]

Despite differences in farm wage, female workers persevere, that just in Central Luzon, there’s a female for every two male farmers. With the involvement of women in agriculture, PhilRice has come up with gender-friendly machines.