Across the island provinces of Romblon, Marinduque, and Palawan, the arrival of certified rice seeds was once marked by waiting—waiting at ports, waiting through inspections, and waiting under the sun as shipments from faraway provinces slowly made their way to farmers’ fields. Each delay carried a cost, and each journey put seed quality at risk.
For the Strengthening Seed Growers’ Cooperatives and Associations (SSGCA) project team of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Seed Program, this reality was impossible to ignore. Years of dependence on seeds shipped from Nueva Ecija, Ilocos, and Mindoro exposed island farmers to high logistics costs and uncertainty beyond their control.
“If something undesirable happens to the RCEF seeds during transit, the seed growers who supplied them will suffer because they won’t get paid anymore,” shared Pamela Jean D. Alborida, SSGCA focal person.
What began as a persistent logistical problem soon sparked a bigger idea—one that would later earn the SSGCA project team the Gantimpala Agad Award from PhilRice: what if island provinces no longer had to wait for seeds from elsewhere, and could instead grow their own?
Sowing Local Strength
The initiative began in 2023, when the SSGCA team recognized the enormity of the continuing seed deficits in Romblon, Marinduque, and Palawan and decided to expand its project’s reach beyond the original target. Through Jacqueline Lee O. Canilao, then RCEF Los Baños coordinator, the team identified local partners and secured the support of DA-Regional Field Offices of CALABARZON and MIMAROPA to ensure that these provinces would finally have resilient and sustainable seed systems.
Led by Dr. Andres L. Dela Cruz Jr., head of RCEF Field Operations Monitoring Division, SSGCA focal persons Lei Anne D. Malubag and Alborida, technical expert Susan R. Brena, and assistant project development officer Ferdinand S. Aguilar, the team took on a mission of transforming seed-deficit areas into self-reliant producers of inbred certified seeds.
On the ground, the initiative was fortified by former provincial coordinators of Romblon and Marinduque, Marc Joseph S. Contreras, and Lloyd Paolo E. Gamez of Palawan, who provided close technical guidance and coordination with local government units and seed growers.
To build capacity and assure quality, the team collaborated with the Bureau of Plant Industry–National Seed Quality Control Services, the Agricultural Training Institute, and local cooperatives for continuous technical and organizational training. In 2024, the Western Philippines University officially joined as a partner institution in Palawan, establishing a seed network within the province to ensure a long-term institutional source of certified seeds.
Every partnership, meeting, and training became part of a bigger goal: helping farmers sustain themselves even beyond the program’s direct support.
The result? The Quezon Palay Seed Growers Association Inc., which had struggled to meet its target allocation for six years, finally achieved a 102% compliance rate, the highest in its history. In Romblon and Marinduque, farmers worked with RCEF for the first time to produce certified seeds. These local productions saved nearly PhP287,000 in transport costs, which were reinvested in enlarging the local seed supply rather than paying for importation from other provinces.
The Turning Point
For the SSGCA team, the real achievement wasn’t in the numbers, but in the moment they saw farmers planting their own certified seeds.
“We get excited the moment they start planting,” Canilao said with an infectious laugh. “It means our dream of having locally produced seeds is finally happening.”
Support from partners like the Mindoro Integrated Seed Producers Cooperative (MISPC), under the leadership of Mario Z. Bantatua, opened opportunities for seed growers. MISPC accommodated new growers from Romblon and Marinduque as affiliates, providing them with a captive market through RCEF. Farmers who were once hesitant to grow and sell now had assurance that every bag of certified seeds passing BPI’s inspection had a guaranteed buyer.
Behind these gains were simple but powerful moments when farmers proudly planted inbred certified seeds from their own fields, and seed growers rejoiced at the thought that their hard work now sustained their community.
“They’re not just partners,” the team maintained. “They’ve become part of the bigger dream.”
For the SSGCA team, collaboration is not just their strategy; it is their work culture. The team credits its success to partnerships across agencies, institutions, and provinces. The spirit of complementation helped them overcome challenges, from power struggles within cooperatives to the logistical difficulties of reaching remote island provinces.
Beyond the Award
The internal Gantimpala Agad Award may have come as a surprise, but for the team, it symbolized something far greater.
“We’re happy, but above all, we’re very proud of the farmers. This is for them. They’re the reason we do this,” Canilao enunciated.
As the SSGCA team looks ahead, its long-term vision remains rooted in sustainability. They hope to see Romblon, Marinduque, and Palawan become fully self-sufficient in supplying their own certified seeds and eventually expand. Through continuous training and informal seed purification in remote areas, they plan to ensure that even the most isolated communities will have access to good-quality seeds.
Reflecting on this journey, Canilao shared what has become the team’s quiet mantra:
“We merely ignited the fire, it’s still the farmers themselves who will keep the fire burning. We just sparked something that they are now keeping aflame.”
In the end, it only takes one spark to start a fire, and when it is enkindled by people who believe in farmers, it becomes a force that spreads illumination from one island to another.
