Becoming an agriculturist was not Ruben Balagtas Miranda’s (a.k.a. Sir RBM) childhood dream. Yet, he grew to love the profession that made him serve the rice farmers for a lifetime. Sir RBM barely knew anything about farming prior to entering the university. What he did was to follow the footsteps of his sister. “My elder sister was an agriculture graduate, and I saw that she was doing well in her […]

Engr. Evangeline Barroga Sibayan, 62, has served the agriculture industry for 37 years. Before her retirement this year, she shares some memories that made her career remarkable as well as some plans for herself and her family. Vangie is a Supervising Science Research Specialist at our Rice Engineering and Mechanization Division (REMD). Prior to joining PhilRice, she was an agricultural engineer, for 10 years, at Maligaya Rice Research and Training […]

Engr. Eden C. Gagelonia has developed quite a number of machines for rice cultivation. She is a Supervising Science Research Specialist at our Rice Engineering and Mechanization Division (REMD). For almost 30 years in the rice engineering sector, she has published numerous research papers and has served as technical reviewer of many of our publications for farmers and other rice stakeholders. Engineering feat She started work at PhilRice in 1989. […]

Swapping varieties is a common practice among rice farmers in Anilao, Iloilo. Every time farmers would hear of a neighbor’s good yield, they would excitedly ask for some seeds to try hoping that they could also enjoy a handsome harvest. Edgar Belago, 61, used to cling to this practice. For more than a decade now, Edgar and his family had been renting and tending a one-hectare farm beside their house […]