ABOUT THE COVER
Rice science for the farmers mirrors people whose lives were touched
and transformed through rice R&D. Our science is not just ricecentered, it is also people-centric. It is not merely doing research forresearch’s sake because our R&D workers believe that many people
entrust their aspirations on us hoping that these will come true. In
this issue, people from all walks of life retell how our R&D outputs
have created an impact in their lives.

CONTENTSFEATURESNEWSRCEF SEED DISTRIBUTION CONTINUES212

TWENTY YEARS OF WAITINGANALYSTS GUARANTEE RCEF SEEDSQUALITY

214ARE YOU IN OR OUT?

RCEF EXTENSION SUPPORTENERGIZED316PALAYAMANAN FARMERS SHINE

18MECHANIZE DRYING, TRY REVERSINGPHILRICE, SEARCA SIGN MOU

419TREASURE TROVE IN TRAININGBOHOL TAPS PHILRICE TO BEEF UPLOCAL PRODUCTION

420BERICEPONSIBLE PHILIPPINES22GOLDEN RICE APPROVED AS FOODAND FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING

5‘‘I FOUND MY ROLE IN AGRICULTURE,AND I AM CHOOSING IT”

24THE JOY OF TOGETHERNESSPHILRICE TEXT CENTER RECOGNIZEDAS GOV’T BEST PRACTICE

526PARTNERS IN THE FIELD: ONENGAGEMENTS AND PARTNERSHIPSRICE ACROSS THE COUNTRY

628LEVELING UP PH RICE FARMING

WHAT’S NEW IN RICE RESEARCH

830NEW KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS

9RISE WITH RICE: POSITIVE VIBESFROM FARMERS

10VOX POP: HOW ARE YOU‘DIGITALIZING’ YOUR FARM
ACTIVITIES?

31

RICE RECIPES

32

STAFF EXTRAORDINAIRE

Editor-in-Chief: Ronan G. Zagado · Assistant and Managing Editor: Hanah Hazel Mavi B. Manalo · Co-managing
Editor/Layout: Reuel M. Maramara· Writers/Photographers: Ajea C. Alcantara · Zenny G. Awing · Anna Marie F.
Bautista · Jayson C. Berto · Allan C. Biwang Jr. · Keesha N. Bornaes · Pamela V. Carbungco · Aldrin G. Castro · Donna
Cris P. Corpuz · Carlo G. Dacumos · Renz Romyl C. De Joya · Jesrel O. Edraira · Christina A. Frediles · Charisma Love B.
Gado-Gonzales · Vanneza B. Isidro · Edmar B. Juanitez · Joillie Nicole B. Lacbayan · Richard Malihan · Hanah Hazel Mavi
B. Manalo · Reuel M. Maramara · John Joward A. Martillana · Mary Grace M. Nidoy · Jose Mari Z. Nombrere · Anileen
O. Pajarillo · Job U. Ramos · Julianne A. Suarez · Ronaldo C. Tabiling Jr. · Sherlyn Dawn D. Taglucop · Ruby Moselle O.
Tumanguil · Ian Joseph G. Zara · Design/Layout: Carlo G. Dacumos · Illustrations/Graphics: Zenny G. Awing · PerryIrish H. Duran · Reuel M. Maramara · Circulation: Christina A. Frediles · Teofilo C. Paulino · Admin. Support: Derwin J.
Villena · Printing Press: Innovations Printshoppe, Inc. · Consulting Editor: Constante T. Briones · Editorial Advisers:John C. De Leon · Karen Eloisa T. Barroga · Eduardo Jimmy P. Quilang
The editorial teamencourages readers to photocopy and circulate articles in thismagazine with proper acknowledgment. Everyone is also invited to contributearticles (600-800 words plus at least four photos/illustrations with credits) andsuggest topics, or refer individuals and organizations engaged in rice whosestories are worth featuring. Please email prri.mail@philrice.gov.ph or mail to: THE
EDITOR, PhilRice Magazine, Development Communication Division, Philippine
Rice Research Institute, Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, 3119 Nueva Ecija.

EDITOR’S NOTERice Sciencefor the farmers
Public discourse on the value of research or science recently went viral. On the upside,
there was a semblance of serendipity in that social debate! It allowed everyone fromall directions to deliberate, contest, and assess the significance of science, and gave
it a human face. It pulled more skeptics into admitting that research outputs are notsimply left piled up on shelves or in journal publications, but have genuinely reached andtransformed people in need, like our farmers.
PhilRice’s reason-for-being as a research for development (R4D) institute is to createinnovations and solutions that can advance farmers’ productivity and income. Now in its
4th decade of operation, the Institute continues to help contain emerging challenges andpressures in the rice industry. Its work covers not only research but also extension andpolicy advocacy.
It takes on nutrition research and advocacy, together with its parners, like the developmentof Golden Rice, to add one solution to the public health problem of Vitamin A deficiency.
It likewise takes heed to the challenge of digitalization to achieve efficiency in rice farming,and probably convince the youth that agriculture is evolving into a profession – not just anunpreferred occupation.
Are these investments in rice science worth it?
Results of a recent external study suggest that a peso worth of investment in PhilRice toperform R4D work could earn some 17% net annual rate of return, which is not inferior towhat the banks can offer. This impact speaks for itself. Before PhilRice was established, theaverage yield was only 2.67t/ha; these days, the national average yield from all ecosystems
is 4.04t/ha thanks to the modern rice varieties and other farming technologies, including
irrigation and mechanization, that reached our farmers. While production and yield
performance have increased over time, population growth rate continues to outpace it.
Therefore, we need more investments in rice R4D to develop technologies that would
augment production to feed the growing population.
Let us tell you true-to-life stories of how our R4D outputs and policy advocacy work etched
their indelible marks in the lives of our stakeholders, especially the rice farmers.

PHILRICE MAGAZINE | JAN-MAR 2020

1JOB U. RAMOS

What’s newin Rice Research
AJEA C. ALCANTARA

Planning toolfor rainfed farmers
Our country has more than 7.5M ha ofdryland or rainfed areas, which account forthree-fourths of the 10M ha of cultivated(arable) areas. Over 5 million households
are in the rainfed rice environment andare at high risk owing to the difficulties
being inflicted by climate change.
How can we help the rainfed rice farmers
become climate change-adaptive? Astrategic crop production planning tool like
WeRise could be tapped.
According to senior researcher Ailon Oliver
Capistrano, the Weather-Rice-nutrient
integrated decision support system(WeRise) is a platform that consists of
two modelling tools–climate and cropmodelling–that are integrated to identify
the best planting schedule in a rainfed riceenvironment based on forecasted weather
data.

information for the incoming cropping
season. Weather information includes
the start and end of the rainy season
and rainfall distribution during the cropgrowing season.
This also advises farmers when to sow
and transplant the crop, what variety isappropriate, and how fertilizer may beefficiently applied.
“Before using WeRise, there should be acalibration conducted in terms of crop
data. In our case, we use varietal data
to be included in the crop databasealong with historical weather data of a
specific location so WeRise could model
the projected weather data for the
coming year or for the next six months,”
Capistrano explained.
The projected weather data will thenbecome an input information in the cropmodelling tool and will be processed todetermine the highest possible yield ofa variety across the projected annual or
6-month weather data.
Moreover, the technology will be transferred
to LGUs after validating WeRise predictions
through on-farm field experiments. “Wetarget two barangays per municipality andfrom each barangay, we will be needing thehelp of six farmers to validate the platform,”
Capistrano said.
Since this is for the use of extension
workers, Capistrano said, they should becapacitated first, specifically in collecting
data from an authorized weather dataprovider.
WeRise was developed by the IRRI-Japan
collaborative research project on Climate
Change Adaptation in Rainfed RiceAreas. Through the IRRI-PhilRice-JIRCAS
collaborative research project, WeRise islocalized to suit rainfed rice areas in thePhilippines. •JOB U. RAMOS

WeRise uses seasonal climate predictions
providing farmers crucial weather

Sampling for soil analysis and soil data using “auger”, a 1-m
device that can get five samples in every 20cm depth.

On-field validation in Cabatuan, Iloilo, a pilot siteof the WeRise project.

8PHILRICE MAGAZINE | JAN-MAR
JAN-MAR 2020
2020