A Surigao del Sur town positioning itself as an agri-eco tourism hub is adding high-zinc rice to its nutrition and food security efforts, with 34 farmer-partners set to cultivate the variety under a new partnership with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
Cantilan formalized the initiative through a memorandum of agreement signed recently during the municipality’s Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration, following the adoption of a local resolution promoting the cultivation, consumption, and integration of high-zinc rice for food security and improved nutrition.
Under the partnership, farmer-partners are expected to plant the nutritious rice in 34 ha, providing an initial production base for the municipality’s nutrition and food security initiatives.
NSIC Rc 460 was bred through conventional methods and contains 19.6-20.4 mg/kg, zinc with similar taste and texture like the ordinary white rice.
The initiative also supports the Be RICEponsible campaign, which encourages households to reduce rice wastage, buy rice produced by Filipino farmers, and choose healthier rice.
The agreement also ensures that farmers and households are supported through capacity enhancement activities, seed distribution, and health and nutrition campaigns.
“We make sure that at the end of the next cropping season, this variety, NSIC Rc 460, will be available, and we are looking forward to seeing more healthier rice varieties cultivated here in Cantilan and in the Caraga region,” Dr. Gerardo F. Estoy Jr, PhilRice Agusan director said.
The agreement signing was led by Mayor Philip A. Pichay, while the resolution, titled “Promoting the Cultivation, Consumption, and Integration of High-Zinc Rice for Food Security and Improved Nutrition in the Municipality of Cantilan,” was approved by the Sangguniang Bayan during its March session.
