Written by Charisma Love B Gado   While businesses are promoting goods for less such as dress or travel for less, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) advances products for more – more yield and income.   A promise that could make farmer’s mornings perfect. Noli Estoy, a 43-year-old farmer from Victoria, Tarlac had recently experienced not-so-good morning. He skipped breakfast and was stranded for two hours due to heavy rains […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   How do we love our rice? We need not to count the ways as many of us think that we could barely survive a meal without this staple food. But there’s danger with this too much love for rice. Rice and diseases Archaeological records reveal that grains didn’t exist until humans domesticated annual grasses, at most 12,000 years ago. In our country, rice […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   There are far memories worth recalling. They enkindle inspiration especially when the country is zealous in achieving its most elusive dream – to be rice-self-sufficient. Old records attest that in 1789, Pampanga exported 28,307 piculs (some 34,000 cavans) of rice with the de facto opening of Manila’s port to world trade. More recently, through Green Revolution campaign, the country attained rice self-sufficiency in […]

Written by Dr Bienvenido O Juliano   Rice is the staple food of half the world. It has a highly digestible starch and good- quality protein among the cereals. Its oil is rich in linoleic acid and unsaponifiable matter (lipid antioxidants). Rice is hypoallergenic (gluten-free), although atopic dermatitis from rice albumin/globulin allergen has been reported in Japan and the US. Eating and cooking quality of rice depends on starch properties: […]

Written by Jaime A Manalo IV   It is no secret that unhealthy lifestyle is key culprit to major fatal diseases in the Philippines and the world over.  From smoking, improper diet, and lack of physical activity—in years, signs of diseases will surface, from reversible to irreversible, all hostile to life. If lifestyle has a lot to do with the demise of humans, it is by no means a hopeless […]

Written by Charisma Love B Gado   In our pre-conquest world, rice was harvested with minimum disturbance so as not to scare away or stir the wrath of the spirits that reside in the staple’s stalks and grains. This tradition and belief still live today among the Bontoks in mt. province. The research of Filomeno V. Aguilar Jr. published in 2005 by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies revealed that […]

Written by Andrei B Lanuza   Most westerners look at rice simply as a side dish. But Asians, like Filipinos, view rice as the center of the meal around which other foods such as meat and vegetables gravitate. This explains why the typical diet of Asians has less saturated fats that are usually found in meat-based diets. Rice is nutritious, but… Is rice by itself nutritious? Many nutritionists believe so. […]

Written by Mervalyn G Oplas   Should Filipinos be scared of buying rice laced with heavy metals? Study results on the increase of levels of the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium and lead in rice have already alarmed rice eaters around the world just recently. The arsenic scare that started in November 2012, followed by lead and cadmium in April and May 2013, were attributed to contamination from the environment. These […]

Written by Maritha C Manubay   “The world is losing its capability of feeding itself,” said Dr. Ricardo Orge, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Director for Climate Change. Philippines and Japan are two different countries (in terms of people, culture, economy, and geography, among others), but they have one thing in common; they both strive for 100% food self-sufficiency. According to Dr. Mikio Umeda, Japan’s revered scientist, the independence and […]

Written by Maritha Manubay   The breathtaking site of the Ifugao highlands seems to exude hope for the country to attain rice self-sufficiency. Despite the promise of its vast terraces, highland farmers are constrained by cultural orientation of planting traditional rice varieties and practicing old-fashioned cultural management.  Thus, the choice between varieties that yields high but with low price or yields more but with high price remains a struggle. Aiming […]