DAR Aklan Conducts Lakbay – Palay 2013 Attends 1st Hybrid Rice Congress in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

by Alexys Apolonio, BS Agricl. Engr.

Farmer Joemer Reynaldo (above photo) of SANDONA Dev’t Coop expresses joy in seeing the F1 Mestizo 29 variety in one of the demo farms in PhilRice, Nueva Ecija. Joemer is currently involved in a seed production project of such variety. He is now excited to plant and reap  good palay production.

Led by the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer II Eberardo N. Erispe, Aklan DAR Provincial Office personnel joined the 1st National Hybrid Rice Congress (NHRC) held in Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Science City, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. The NHRC was conceptualized to support the country’s Food Staples Sufficiency Program with the theme “Sapat na Bigas, Kaya ng Pinas”. 

This is the Department of Agriculture’s centerpiece program focused on three major interventions: production-support, enhancing incentives and enabling mechanisms, and managing food consumption. The team, attended the hybrid congress, is the cooperating members of the Hybrid Rice Seed Production Project the DAR implements through the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP) with the participation of LGU New Washington and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist. Farmer-cooperators and members of SANDONA Development Cooperative in Barangay Guinbaliwan, New Washington, through their Chairperson Emelda Q. Fuentes also joined the activity. 

This year’s hybrid rice congress, held last April 3-5, 2013, supports the National Year of Rice 2013. It is a campaign aimed to promote productive farming, less rice wastage, and responsible rice consumption for better health. For production, the country aims to plant hybrid rice in one million hectares of favorable areas until 2016 to help the country become rice self-sufficient and increase the income of the farmers. 

The Lakbay Palay 2013 was a very important activity for the project team as they are currently implementing a hybrid rice project. The hybrid congress allowed them to observe demonstration farms of different hybrid rice varieties and other crops; witnessed different energy-efficient, knowledge-intensive and labor-reducing technologies on rice production, increased awareness of new technologies and ideas on growing rice and hybrid rice, and provided answers to some issues and concerns of the farmer-cooperators on their existing hybrid rice production project. /MP