In Union There Is Strength! PhilRice Isabela Shows In Its Territorial Region 2 & CAR That Farmer Cooperation With Business-Mindedness Is The Combined Key To Prosperity In The Villages

When I saw the topmost image on Facebook, immediately I said to myself, “Abundance and Cooperation.” I supposed that, with so many full bags of rice, people loading into a waiting vehicle, and someone gesturing, “Alright!”

The scene is courtesy of PhilRice Isabela dated 24 Feb 2022. The Facebook post says:

MarDag RiceBIS Agriculture Cooperative got a 50-centavo higher price per kilogram of fresh palay by marketing the produce of its members together.

MarDag is the Marasat Grande and Dagupan RiceBIS farmer group in San Mateo, Isabela – with an initial 103 members in Oct 2018 (PhilRice.gov.ph) – membership un-updated. RiceBIS is the “Rice Business Innovations System” propagated by PhilRice. Now then, I say: “PhilRice means business!” Now I know business is what I saw in the topmost image without someone articulating it.

The Facebook post says:

An initial harvest totaling 57,888 kg of palay was consolidated and marketed to the buyer with the highest buying price, giving (MarDag) an increased income of P28,944 for (its) first deal.

Being the son of a farmer and an agriculture graduate (UP '65), I know that with farmers, a single income of P28,944 is something to be happy about! It is very much welcome – note in the image someone showing a thumbs-up. Not identified, but he may be Jose Guillermo, MarDag's Palay Trading Coordinator. He says about the deal:

Ito ang kagandahan ng organisadong pagsasaka at pagbebenta. Nakakahanap kami ng buyer na mas makakapagbigay sa amin ng magandang presyo.
(“This is the beauty of organized farming and selling. We are able to locate a buyer who is able to give us an attractive price.” – my translation)

I am glad PhilRice is earnestly into cooperatives. Our small farmers will thus survive – and thrive. (Note: PhilRice can help organize them but only structurally; they have to help themselves, themselves.)

The Facebook post says more:

Farm clustering and consolidation of harvest is a strategy initiated by the (RiceBIS) Community Project to increase the income of smallholder farmers.

The territorial imperative of PhilRice Isabela, which is now under Director Joy Bartolome Duldulao, is Region 2 and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). To be more accurate, farm clustering with consolidation of operations is a strategy originated and emphasized by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, head of the Department of Agriculture (DA); PhilRice is under the DA.

Another report on PhilRice Isabela farmers is enthusiastic. Christina Frediles says (“It’s All About Willingness, Commitment,” Philippine Rice Research Institute, philrice.gov.ph), who quotes Ofelia Malonzo, RiceBIS lead implementer in Isabela, as saying:

Volunteerism is the key – the farmers who believe that the program can better their lives will join. It took guts. We knew that inviting people to join and commit would be challenging. And since (women) saw that RiceBIS could be a big help to our community, (women) volunteered.

Congratulations, DA, PhilRice Isabela and Director Duldulao. Taken together, you are an inspiring big help to farmers in Region 2 and CAR!@517