“We’re not here because it’s an easy life. We’re here to make lives easy.” This is the essence of serving the Filipino rice farmers, according to Dr. Santiago R. Obien, now 87, first DA-PhilRice director. A crux deeply ingrained that no insurgencies, vandalized fields, travel ordeals, and limited resources can interrupt. Conflict passers-by Reaching the marginalized farmers entails faith without neglecting self-preservation. Datu Ali “Alex” Sumlay of DA-PhilRice Midsayap, development […]
Categories: Stories and Multimedia-Articles
Living a healthy life is a matter of choice. While some people choose to be healthy, others take on the bigger responsibility to help others live a healthy life. In the rice industry, there are people who took on the challenge to bring healthier rice options to more Filipinos’ tables. Rice options to curb malnutrition Upon learning that 3 of 10 children are malnourished and 7 of 10 women are […]
Rice production is very vital regardless of major disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic, especially because rice is a necessity. That is why despite hurdles, those who are tasked to increase rice production through hybrid rice persevere. Before the pandemic, Dr. Fidel Ramos, senior science research specialist at DA-PhilRice Isabela, related that their three-hectare parental seed production area in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya was already difficult to reach when there is typhoon […]
When they lost their jobs because of the pandemic, licensed massage therapist Aila Grospe and her business consultant-husband Pierangelo Alejo were faced with the challenge to look for new sources of income. Remembering her family’s 1.3-ha farm, which they did not till for 15 years since her father passed away, Aila convinced her husband to try their hands in farming. With their two children, they decided to leave Alabang, Muntinlupa […]
Dr. Riza G. Abilgos-Ramos, nutritionist and supervising science research specialist at the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice), was conferred the Scientist I rank by the Scientific Career Council of the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Science and Technology, April 22. Dr. Abilgos-Ramos, through her research works, has developed complementary food and beverage from rice and locally-available, nutrient-dense, and low-cost crops designed for malnourished older infants, pre-school […]
We eat, work, and pray every day. Why not add exercise in between? Dr. “Reeze”, our recently conferred Scientist I, shares her journey as a nutritionist and her insights on work–life balance. Becoming a nutritionist During her childhood in Camarines Norte, Doc Reeze was skinny and very sickly. She was among those who lined up for their school’s feeding program for underweight pupils. It was partly the reason she decided […]
The Commission on Audit (COA) commended DA-PhilRice for its 39% appropriation to Gender and Development (GAD) for fiscal year 2021, which was far over the 5% budget requirement as mandated by law. In its audit observation report, COA saluted the Institute “for supporting the objective of GAD” and further recommended that the Executive Director through the GAD focal person continually adhere to the related laws, rules, and regulations concerning GAD […]
Rice farming, particularly in uplands where it is done only once a year, cannot be postponed to a later year for whatever excuse there might be. Upland farmers depend much on their limited rice produce, supplemented with other staples. The community seed banking (CSB), a good practice under the informal seed system leads farmers into producing, saving, and sharing their seeds. They each retain from their harvest a certain amount […]
In pursuit of a more gender-inclusive rice industry, research and development workers of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) are undergoing a Gender Analysis Training (GAT). The training, which runs from March until May, was designed to help staff analyze and understand how women and men and their social relations are affected and will be affected by the Institution’s operations, programs, projects, and activities. This is in adherence […]
I am Monica L. Cab-ad, 58, a rice and vegetable farmer for life. Even as a child, I knew that I would stay in this kind of work. It was my family’s identity. For years now, I had been managing a 1,500m2 land that can be reached through a 30-min walk from our home in Sitio Tumpic, Labueg, Kapangan, Benguet. It is owned by my cousin but we agreed that […]
