Edgar
Libertario, PhilRice-Negros officer-in-charge, said that they have prepared
programs to help the farmers choose the right variety of rice.
One of PhilRice’s
programs, which is the Farmers Participatory Varietal Development and Palay
Check, is designed to assist farmers in choosing the kind of variety and
techniques they will use in rice farming.
Among the rice varieties were: aromatic rice,
brown rice, purple and black rice and the ride variety.
They are all
higher in price compared to the regular rice but have higher level of nutrients,
vitamin content and has anti-oxidant property, Libertario said.
“We are like a
big restaurant. We cater to every need of the farmers. We serve whatever is in
demand and we will never give stuff which you don’t want to eat. We have
everything including the technology. And since Negros is into organic farming,
we will offer everything organic as long as it is anchored with science,”
Libetario said
The province will
be a good case study for the development of organic rice and its production, he
said.
The provincial
government of Negros Occidental had been pushing farmers to shift on organic
agriculture and has shunned genetically modified organism-crops from entering the
province.
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