“Ready or not, tell yourself to jump.” When her husband passed away more than 10 years ago, Kathryn Barroga, was only left with one choice – oversee their 5-ha farm while taking care of her two children, then aged 19 and 12 years old. Kathryn, a physical therapist by profession, spent her childhood on a rice farm. Despite being exposed to farm life, her parents prioritized her education and discouraged […]

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 […]

Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija – Students vowed to be “RICEponsible” in a National Rice Awareness Month (NRAM) event for kids held at Maligaya Elementary School, Nov. 25. The activity aimed to mold children not to waste rice and appreciate farmers’ hard work through creative presentations and by giving kid-friendly knowledge products about rice such as the “PalayKulayan” coloring book. “This event is wonderful for instilling the lessons related […]

Adding a vertical garden in a rice-based farming system augments sources of income; an established setup in the Palayamanan 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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]