Agriculture

Newly-confirmed Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel went through the wringer of the Commission on Appointments without much difficulty because of the complete trust reposed on him by his best friend whom he supported in the national race, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. He vowed to make the entire agriculture sector profitable and attractive enough for the youth to engage in its …

The Department of Agriculture, through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PhilMech) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) launched on Thursday the country’s first Agricultural Machinery Design and Prototyping Center (AMDPC). Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. led the inauguration of the 2,000-square meter facility located at PhilMech in the Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija. “This …

The Department of Agriculture through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) and the DA-RFO CALABARZON will host the Young Farmers Challenge Program (YFC) 2023 National Awarding Ceremony on December 14, 2023, at the Development Academy of the Philippines, Tagaytay City. The event is the culmination of a ladderized competition from the provincial to the national level. A total of …

The Department of Agriculture is almost ready to roll out the voucher system in providing assistance of seeds and fertilizers to clustered farmers in five pilot regions. The department is looking at a possible launch of this voucher system using the IMC (interventions monitoring cards) that would double up as identification and cash card to individual farmers, according to Glenn …

With fertilizer prices having gone beyond the farmers’ imagination in 2022, the high palay farmgate prices in 2022 have been beneficial to farmers who are now encouraged to pursue their noble livelihood despite all current challenges. This observation was raised in yesterday’s briefing of Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian to farmers and various rice stakeholders during the Ugnay …

Whenever supplies are ready, palay farmer Desie Suco Paalisbon crosses the river (using the family’s motorized banca) for 30 minutes to one hour to get her inbred seeds and fertilizers under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund in Purok 5, Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur. She makes sure to plant the two sacks of seeds and two sacks of fertilizers immediately on …

At the 35th National Rice R4D (research for development) conference held at the central station of the Philippine Rice Research Institute, newly-appointed Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel Jr. spoke on behalf of his predecessor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in expressing his shared commitment to advance the rice communities and improve the lives of those in rice-growing communities. Saying his speech …

At the recently-concluded Asian Seed Congress 2023 held in Christchurch, New Zealand, several private seed companies of different crops showed interest in investing in the Philippines as part of their market diversification strategy. Those that indicated interest to invest in the Philippines were from Malaysia and  China to share their new technologies.  The idea is to make high quality seeds …

The exhibit of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) at the second floor lobby of the Philippine Senate turned into an amusing event of sorts as some senators,  their staff and visitors browsed through the banner standees, had a feel of the different rice varieties, watched in amazement the bike-like rice mill for brown rice and partook of samples of …

Agriculture Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio S. Sebastian, in a commentary published by TransactionsNASTPhl, exhorted the science community to “think outside ourselves and ensure that our outputs result in societal outcomes for millions of farmers, fishers, stakeholders, and consumers. If our work supports societal outcomes and impacts on food security, attaining food security will not remain an uphill climb. …