Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija – Rodrigo “Jiggy” Manicad Jr. encouraged public agencies in Central Luzon to help farmers engage in marketing and be entrepreneurs in a recent gathering of farmers, students, and agriculture workers.
In an activity called Rice Fiesta conducted at Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Manicad emphasized that farmer’s entrepreneurial skill has to be improved for them to improve their income and stay in farming.
“The more I realized the importance of rice in our lives when I witnessed the long queue for this staple food during the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda. [Farming has to be sustained. Let’s help them create more income],” he said in Filipino.
In his visit, Manicad, who had documented and reported on food security and rice issues, said technologies such as mechanical transplanter, mechanical seeder, and drone can help farmers become more competitive.
“Our technologies on rice are already developed. PhilRice, state universities, and other government agencies have experts who can prove its advantages. We just need to boost our efforts in promoting these to farmers,” he said.
With the theme “Diwang: Makabago at Tradisyunal na Teknolohiya, Handog sa Pilipinong Magsasaka,” Rice Fiesta is spearheaded by the Central Luzon Agriculutre, Aquatic, and Resources Research and Development Consortium.
Other than technologies for the farmers, the two-day fiesta also staged a fashion show on rice, contests on cooking, film, poster, and Palay Palaro.
