Rice is life. Celebrate life; celebrate rice this coming November, the National Rice Awareness Month. Join the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) as it leads the celebration with the theme, The future is bright, the future is rice.
Declared in January 2004 through Presidential Proclamation No. 524, the National Rice Awareness Month aims to honor rice, the staple food of the Filipinos providing fuel to the country’s agricultural economy.
According to DA-PhilRice Executive Director Ronilo Beronio, "The future is bright, the future is rice" is an optimistic theme, which aims to introduce to students of all levels the various opportunities not just in rice farming, but also in other social and agro-industrial ventures.
To highlight the role of rice as the principal source of energy and protein of Filipinos, a supplemental feeding program, which will benefit school children and out-of-school youth, will be conducted throughout the month of November.
On November 23-26, an exhibit at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall and a series of seminars on rice and rice-related issues at DA in Quezon City, will give everybody a chance to experience rice.
To promote the value of rice especially among urban students and residents, a ceremonial rice harvesting will be conducted on November 27 at the Rice Garden in Rizal Park, Manila.
Publications which include a coffee table book and children’s story book on rice will also be launched.
Other activities include the following: rice quiz show and poster-making contest for high school students, and cooking contest for college students; an exhibit during the International Rice Genetics Conference on November 16-19 at the Manila Hotel; Annual Rice Forum on November 26 at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna.
T-shirt design and jingle-making contests which are open to all high school and college students have been launched recently. Deadline for entries was set on October 23.
This year’s celebration will kick off with the commemoration of DA-PhilRice’s 24th Anniversary on November 3-6.
DA-PhilRice is a government-owned and –controlled corporation that aims to develop high-yielding and cost-reducing technologies so farmers can produce enough rice for all Filipinos. /MP
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