SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ, Nueva Ecija—A former director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute said those in the agency must think out of the box as it pursues a climate-resilient agriculture for Filipino farmers.
Calixto Protacio, former executive director, said this as the agency observed its 30th anniversary this weekend.
The anniversary is marked by 70 rice varieties bred, 24 rice machines developed, 23 patents applied for, and several other achievements in rice research and development.
Protacio led the two-day celebration at PhilRice’s central experiment station here along with officials and various stakeholders, including farmers.
“We are eager to do more so our research outputs will reach more farmers, particularly the resource-poor farmer,” Protacio said in his anniversary message.
PhilRice, which has been leading rice R & D efforts since its founding in 1985, has provided cost-reducing and yield-enhancing technologies on rice.
Muñoz Mayor Nestor Alvarez said with PhilRice, Muñoz is now heralded as among the major rice seeds hub in the country.
“Muñoz is privileged to host PhilRice. Along the national highway, one cannot help but notice the proliferation of rice seed centers, making the Science City a major rice seeds hub in the Philippines,” he said.
This certainly creates a domino effect in terms of livelihood creation from people manning the rice fields, sales agents, to the many of input dealers in the city.
Eduardo Jimmy P. Quilang, PhilRice deputy executive director for development, noted that the institute has become visible through the Be RICEponsible campaign, a nationwide initiative to convince local governments to issue ordinances on half-cup serving of rice on major food establishments to arrest the issue on rice wastage.
Quilang said the campaign has yielded encouraging results. “We are all united to help reduce rice wastage in the Philippines,” he said.
Eden Gagelonia of the PhilRice’s rice engineering and mechanization division said the institute is also leading efforts to mechanize the rice industry. “A number of machines has been developed to help reduce work load in farming and make them useful even for women farmers.’’
Meanwhile, former executive director Leocadio S. Sebastian advised PhilRice to “properly position itself” amid climate change and other threats to rice food production.
“PhilRice should focus its programs, harness its networks and partners, and think outside the box in developing, together with our farmers and concerned stakeholders, options for a competitive, sustainable, and climate-smart agriculture,” said Sebastian, who headed PhilRice from 2000-2008.
Aside from its central experiment station here, PhilRice also has branch stations in Batac City, Ilocos Norte; San Mateo, Isabela; Los Baños, Laguna; Ligao City, Albay; Murcia, Negros Occidental; Romualdez, Agusan del Norte; Central Mindanao State University, Bukidon; and Midsayap, North Cotabato.
In 2015, Philrice received the Anak ni Juan Award from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhl). It recognizes PhilRice as the agency with the most number of patents applied.
Jerry Serapion, Philrice intellectual property management chief, said the award is a testament to the intensive knowledge production going on in the institute.
As a research institute, PhilRice is tasked to advance the various frontiers of rice science. Protacio said that this year, more than 25 scientific publications have been produced by the institute’s researchers and scientists.
Some of these were even published in some of the most reputable journals in the world such as the Journal of Food Agriculture and Environment, International Journal of Ecology and Conservation, Philippine Journal of Crop Science, and the Philippine Agricultural Scientist.