Owing to production challenges, such as unstable prices and climate-related stresses, many farmers might have been contemplating on leaving rice farming. But for Leo Franco L. Ebardo of Bayugan City and Terencio R. Oquendo, Jr. of Esperanza, both in Agusan del Sur, their choice is to join this bumpy ride of producing more rice. Truth to tell, they have joined the Esperanza Seed Growers-Farmers’ Association (ESEGFA), which was born in […]

Most Filipino rice farmers are normally engaged in a single income source to support their family needs. Growing rice and selling it as fresh palay to traders is habitual for them in getting immediate cash returns. For Johnny C. Escote, 54, from Central Glad, Midsayap, North Cotabato, it’s not yet too late to try rice business, in fact, it’s the best time to initiate one knowing that buying price of […]

Members of the Marasat Grande and Dagupan RiceBIS Association (MarDag) in San Mateo, Isabela were willing to be together, let alone committed to doing things as a group. The rice business lane PhilRice Isabela started to promote RiceBIS in 2017 in San Mateo, inviting 33 barangay captains to serve as farmer-cooperators. In the end, only Jose V. Guillermo from Brgy. Marasat Grande and Diosdado S. Sagaysay from Brgy. Dagupan qualified […]

For people in the city area, “see you at SM” means “meeting at a shopping mall”. Interestingly, to the facilitators and farmer-cooperators of the Rice Business Innovations System (RiceBIS) Community Program at Brgys. Macarse and Mayamot, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, “SM” stands for “Silong ng Mangga”. Such was the expression during the program’s early years of implementation when the villages in the area still had not much – no facilities nor […]

A sturdy stronghold in troubled times, Castillejos in Zambales is fortifying its territory by prioritizing good supply of healthy and safe food with assistance from PhilRice’s RiceBIS project. Eleanor D. Dominguez, mayor of Castillejos, said that the restricted movements due to the pandemic, destructive typhoons, and crooked traders have severely affected not only the farmers, but also the consumers as these factors threaten food production and the supply chain. Like […]

There is strength in togetherness. This line proves true in the journey toward success of Balangibang Palayamanan Farmers Incorporated (BPFI). When consecutive setbacks confronted them, members of this farmers’ association in Polangui, Albay dared to find opportunities in the midst of difficulties. It started with hunger to learn BPFI members started from participating in a farmer field school in 2010. “We started as a group of farmers who wanted to […]

To help develop quality, climate-change resilient varieties, the Philippines has been part of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) collaboration on rice technologies and germplasm since 2016. Through the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute’s (DA-PhilRice) Genetic Resources Division, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Lao PDR have been effecting material exchanges with agreed intellectual property coverage. To be completed this year, the collective pool has opened pathways to identifying promising genetic make-ups. “Techno-transfer and […]

For people in the city area, “see you at SM” means “meeting at a shopping mall”. Interestingly, to the facilitators and farmer-cooperators of the Rice Business Innovations System (RiceBIS) Community Program at Brgys. Macarse and Mayamot, Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, “SM” stands for “Silong ng Mangga”. Such was the expression during the program’s early years of implementation when the villages in the area still had not much – no facilities nor […]

It’s a common narrative of success when farmers increase their yield and sell their harvests at a competitive price. In an industry where the middlemen often take home the biggest share, it may be a little bit hard to believe that farmers can succeed in marketing their own produce. In just three years, an Ilukano farm cooperative, reached P2.5M in assets. Unbelievable, but it happened. Ruthbell Pammit, 56-year-old chair of […]

A Filipino farmer, a grain of rice, a spoon, and a fork. As LaLie Lopez Tropa, a student at Aklan State University, painstakingly carves these on a leaf, she longs to bring the message that every grain of rice Pinoys enjoy on their tables is a fruit of every drop of sweat of our farmers. LaLie knows the hardship because her parents are rice farmers. “They produce our staple food. […]