Soil degradation is a quiet crisis; it exists but it is barely noticed as it happens slowly. With the current population of the world, which is about 7.3 billion and may reach up to 11 billion by 2050, the more frequent utilization of soil for food production is seen to degrade soil quality. According to Dr. Rattan Lal, soil scientist from Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, Ohio State University, soil […]

Written by Dr. Reynante L. Ordonio   As we aim for food security, producing enough, affordable, and accessible foods for consumers is our battlecry. More to this is to ensure that these foods are of high quality, safe, and nutritious. Not only quantity but also quality A combination of different agricultural technologies and strategies has to be explored and utilized to achieve food security. Among these technologies, perhaps the most […]

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, agriculture committee chair, urged rice farmers to use quality rice seeds and farm machineries to earn good income and become competitive in the local and international market. “[Trade liberalization compels us to be more competitive as agricultural crops such as rice from other countries will easily be available in the market]. To compete [with other rice-producing countries such as Vietnam], you have to reduce production cost. […]

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 […]

Carmelita Guttierez, 64, manages a half-hectare rice field.  By planting NSIC Rc  222, she is one of many who has found joy and achieved success in farming, but like everyone else, her story is a fusion of good and bad days in the field. “We face many challenges every season like occurrences of pests and diseases, which result in low yield. Our farm is not that wide so there were […]

  A student research has found out bacteria that can enhance growth and yield of rice. According to Dr. Eduardo Jimmy P. Quilang, head of PhilRice’s Agronomy, Soils, and Plant Physiology Division, the research dubbed as Enhancement of Growth and Yield of Aerobic Rice (Oryza sativa L.) by Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria was carried out by Harry Jay M. Cavite, a graduate student from the Central Luzon State University. In a […]

A professor has asserted in a seminar that organic agriculture and less meat consumption may reduce greenhouse gas emission (GHG). Dr. Teodoro C. Mendoza, a professor from the Institute of Crop Science in College of Agriculture, UP Los Baños and a member of the PhilRice Board of Trustee, was the resource person of the first PhilRice Institutional Seminar Series with the topic on “Achievement of Food Security in Relation to […]

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 […]