Batac and Isabela stations celebrated their 23rd and 30th anniversaries, respectively, early this year.
The Batac station was established on February 9,1999. It serves as the center for dryland agriculture R&D focusing on the improvement of rice-based cropping systems in semi-arid areas and development of on-farm water conservation and storage techniques. The National Tobacco Administration played a major role in its creation.
Based in San Mateo, the Isabela station officially started its operations on January 21, 1992 with the aim of boosting rice production in Northeastern Luzon. With the need to promote hybrid rice, it became the hybrid rice center of DA-PhilRice in 1998. As such, its primary function is to develop, package, and promote hybrid rice and its related technologies.
