DA-PhilRice ManCom members during the 22nd meeting held via Zoom.
The DA-PhilRice Management Committee (ManCom) during its 22nd regular meeting on July 7 tackled the Masagana Rice Programs, which has two strands: 150 and 200.
Masagana 150 is expected to yield 7.5t of inbred rice per hectare, while Masagana 200 aims at 10t of hybrid rice a hectare. The outgoing DA leadership drafted the Masagana proposals in response to the marching orders of the President/DA Secretary Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
The program intends to take advantage of the clustering and consolidation strategies of the One DA Reform Agenda to boost productivity while reducing production cost. It also aims to locally produce sufficient rice.
Meanwhile, policy recommendations made by the ManCom Kaizen (Japanese term for “good change”) committees for approval will undergo trial runs until December, then re-evaluated and discussed with outside interest groups. The aim is to optimize and enhance the institute’s network, external influence, and rally initiatives thru external analysis to be undertaken by the Community Relations and Stakeholder Management Committee.
Fuel consumption control measures were likewise discussed including the administrative and financial implications of the PhP9 million contract with Petron; secondary expenses incurred during travels, meetings, and workshops; and strict implementation of the general policy of “no dispatch on Fridays and weekends,” which can be on a case-to- cases basis depending on the potential implications on commitments to extra-core and externally funded projects.
