At a glance, the chief goal of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program seems pretty simple – to distribute certified seeds to rice farmers. Looking deeper, it is not an easy pursuit, especially if we add the pandemic to the equation. Since the start of the program in September 2019, various partners in the field mushroomed. Among them were the local government units (LGU). Keeping it wide In […]

Adding a vertical garden in a rice-based farming system augments sources of income; an established setup in thePalayamanan farm of the  Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) showed.  Dr. Marissa V. Romero, lead of PhilRice’s project Modernized rice-based farming systems and value-adding technologies, said that integrating vertical garden in Palayamanan increases sources of food and income and enhances resiliency. Palayamanan integrates diverse crops and livestock in a farm to […]

A short drive from the highway along San Antonio Weste in Lupao, Nueva Ecija is a field teeming with vegetables ready for harvest. Beside it is another field from which rice was freshly harvested. One would not think that these were barren seven months ago. Aila G. Grospe, farm owner, recalls that the 1.3-ha farm has been abandoned for 15 years since her father passed away. The sudden twist of […]

By Eufemio T. Rasco Understanding the science behind food is more important than ever. As the Philippines slowly loosens its COVID-19 protocols, it has become necessary to address other important issues that emerged, or were exacerbated, during our extended lockdown. This is particularly resonant for the Philippine agriculture sector, which is undergoing a shift from the perspective of its food systems. This is in part due to shifting global paradigms and commitments […]

One of the alternative courses of action in disseminating information about agriculture is engaging the youth community. Various programs have been developed to encourage the youth to be involved in agriculture especially in rice farming to help farmers adopt available technologies. Let’s discover the engagements of the youth in agriculture. After almost 7 years of implementation, the Special Training for Employment Programs (STEP) by the Technical Education and Skills Development […]

Training as professional intervention should not end with its mere conduct; it should also include the documentation of former trainees’ lives years after being trained. Questions such as what happened to the trainees years after their training, did they share their knowledge with their community, and what needs to be improved in the training course or program should be asked. According to Rowena A. Pineda, senior science research specialist of […]

In a 2017 study by DA-PhilRice, the ability of Filipino farmers to obtain maximum production is only 80.19% despite technological advancements. The study concluded that better education, membership in an organization, securing tenurial status, and participation in training could help increase farmers’ yields. In the following accounts, farmers tell their story of how training programs have changed their farming—for good. JUDY S. ORENSE, 52, BAGO CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL I started […]

While substantial steps to promote gender equality in our country have been taken with the enactment of the Magna Carta of Women in 2009, gender gaps remain in other industries like agriculture. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 8.31 million men and 2.76 million ladies in 2016 were employed in agriculture. Men were also paid P17.45 higher than women. Yet these data are not enough to reflect the important roles […]

Rice is a prominent staple food comprising 40% of the Filipino diet and a primary source of carbohydrates that provide energy needed by the body. No other food can truly take the place of rice. The Healthier Rice Project under the DA-PhilRice, in partnership with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), develops biofortified rice like Golden Rice as a complementary food-based intervention to offer better access to nutritious food. Golden […]

Darkness starts to engulf the remaining light of the day but the rustles have not slowed down a bit inside the Pinagbuklod na Adhika Multipurpose Cooperative (PNAMC) facility in Macarse, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. The last sack of palay was poured into the brown rice milling machine. Several women can be seen filling plastic bags labeled “Macarse Brown Rice”. In a transformed food system that is gender-responsive, opportunities are given to […]