While most people grapple

on various socio-political
turmoils, farmers continuously wrestle over their
small piece of land in search
for justice and freedom from
financial bondage.
If you go to the barrio or the other
side of the country, you will see a more
vivid picture of how some farmers toil
and sweat over the muddy, messy field
under the scorching sun rays, and yet
at the end of the hard work, end up
with a measly harvest or income.
Recent reports show that a big
chunk of the Filipino rice farmers still
live below the poverty line with income from rice farming inadequate to
cover the minimum subsistence level
requirement.
Growing rice can be really tough
and daunting especially for small-scale
farmers; but when it is wisely managed, it can be a goldmine.
In this issue, we feature stories of
farmers who despite having small
landholding made it big in rice. Take
heed and learn from their innovativeness and creativity.
The government has put its major
investments in rice research to develop
and promote technologies that can
address varied production issues of the
farmers.
Now on its 22nd year of operation
as a premiere rice research leader in
the country, PhilRice intensifies its
R&D systems by making it more
alert and responsive to the emerging
challenges in agriculture. This impetus
is well reflected and substantiated in
this years anniversary theme of the
Institute, Tugon sa hapon ng Agrikultura, Tungo sa Ikauunland ng mga
Magsasaka.
PhilRice believes that success in
rice farming rests not solely on farm
size, production inputs, but also on
ones ability to maximize and mobilize
limited farm resources and to cope
with the dynamics and complexities
associated with the rice crop.

EDITORIAL

More money
in rice
Theres a silver lining in rice! Its just a
matter of how you make use and look at
it. A lot of stories in this issue reveal that
aside from theres indeed a big money
in growing rice given the right production practices and technologies, there
are also other things in rice apart from
growing it that farmers can cash in with.
The rice - aside from serving it as
mere boiled - can be transformed into
various food delicacies such as cakes,
puto, rice wine, and rice coffee; the rice
machines can be used to earn additional
income through custom services; and
instead of leaving rice hulls in humps in
the field which may cause some nuisance
like skin irritation can be converted into
fertilizers.
Also, you may diversify or introduce
other high-value crops in your farm.
Grow them either intercropped with
rice, or along the bunds and service
road, or under the mango trees. You
can raise some livestock, as well, such as
ducks and native chicken.
Diversifying your farm will not only
bloat your pocket, but it also secures a

considerable amount of food for your

family. A farmer in Bicol, who diversifies his one hectare farm, earns more
or less PhP100,000 a year.
Moreover, there can be no other
better and practical thing to do to succeed in rice farming than asking people
who are already successful in it. Those
people hold the key that will bring you
to a certain height of success.
All this, however, cannot happen
without your heart and attitude on it.
In politics, they call it political will to
get things going.
Getting rich in rice must start from
you. Like in any form of business,
making it in rice means doing certain
things in certain ways with certain
attitude.
Getting rich must not remain a
dream you can make it a reality with
hard work, perseverance, and use of
proper technologies.
This issue hopes to provide a
roadmap, leading small, marginal
Filipino farmers to a justifiable,
credit-free life!

October - December 2007, Vol. 20 No. 4