PhilRice Wakes Up & May Be Into Becoming World Class Again!

Reading the digital PhilRice Magazine Jan-Mar 2021 issue, from this many-faceted digital Editor In Chief’s point of view, the issue is early. Edited by Ronan G Zagado, I say the issue is superb. I see PhilRice again institutionally invigorated. Congratulations, PhilRice!

With founding Executive Director Santiago R Obien (SRO) starting mid-1980s, PhilRice became world-class, both in intellectual and physical attributes. After SRO retired in 2000, I have not seen any mighty show of institutional force until today, in PhilRice’s pursuit of farm clustering. I see it as a modern form of French writer’s Alexandre Dumas’ 1845 masterpiece The Three Musketeer’s battle cry, “All for one, one for all. United we stand, divided we fall.”

To continue to be a tireless blogger, I have to read very widely, and this is the first time that I come across any of those many agencies and offices under and attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA) talking about those “8 Paradigms” being pursued by the DA under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar.

The magazine’s theme is “Moving In Together” – that is all about clustering farms in quest of man-made miracles. With this issue, I see PhilRice Magazine itself pursuing journalistic greatness in development. Even as it shows that PhilRice is pursuing, once again, achievements in the name of the Filipino rice farmers.

PhilRice Executive Director John C De Leon writes the introduction, “Force Of Collectivity,” which this Editor In Chief says is unusually powerful. Mr De Leon says:

Beginning in January 2021, the Department of Agriculture (DA) rolled out the “One DA” holistic approach to accelerate the transformation of agriculture and fisheries toward modernization, industrialization, consolidation, and professionalization.

“One DA” lays out 12 key strategies to be pursued by the DA’s banner programs and concerned bureaus, attached agencies, regions, and other implementing entities...

… DA Undersecretary Rodolfo V Vicerra expounds on the rudiments of farm clustering (p 10), which gives integrated assistance on agricultural production, storage, processing of value-added products, marketing, and other relevant activities of community-based producer groups. 

Yes, PhilRice is going great again!

Mary Grace M Nidoy quotes Mr Vicerra as saying (“Clasping The Clusters”):

When Secretary Dar came into DA in 2019, he brought in the New Thinking for Agriculture, with farm consolidation and clustering as one of the strategic thrusts. During that time, it was challenging for us to imagine how this would be implemented since “consolidation” seems to contradict the national policy of agrarian reform.

After thoroughly studying the matter within the DA, Mr Vicerra says, “We found that what we should really be consolidating and clustering should not be focusing on lands, but more importantly, their production value chain.” Clustering is not literal, but the benefits are real and multidimensional.

Also an agriculturist, my brother Emilio lives in Asingan, Pangasinan, where we were born. With his car, he can easily drive the two of us to the Special Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, where PhilRice was born. I imagine us making good time there. Meanwhile, PhilRice is making good time with history!@517

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