Revitalization of the NIA Farmer Training Center, Bontoc

NIA Farmer Training Center, Bontoc

When we made a preliminary inspection of the processing site in Bontoc, Mountain Province last month, it was apparent that the Farmer Training Center in the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) complex had fallen to the status of storage area for assorted engine parts, wood materials and papers. The electrical wiring had long since disappeared…but it was a solid building with a good roof and it certainly had potential!

The processing machines were trucked into Mountain Province over the Banaue-Bontoc road by our fearless installers from PhilRice and JHT MicroEnterprises. The drive is a white-knuckle ride over a road that clings to the mountain sides; over the edge, it is literally hundreds of feet to the river below.

The delivery truck, with the processing machines, crawls along the Banuae-Bontoc road

The farmers in Mountain Province are coordinated by NIA, with particularly outstanding LGU support in the municipalities of Balig, Natonin and Sadanga. Each municipality’s farmers worked on task despite innumerable breakdowns and electrical brown outs. Housed at the NIA complex during the Operators Training Workshop and processing, the farmers had the opportunity learn the many aspects of the processing in a supportive atmosphere.

Benguet farmers observe processing/ Checking moisture content/ Final winnowing

The official signing of the Memorandum of Agreement concerning the turnover of the machines to the heirloom farmers of the Cordillera was signed at the unveiling in Bontoc on August 25, 2009. Mountain Province Governor Maximo Dalog, Department of Agriculture Regional Director Cesar Rodriguez, NIA Regional Director Abraham Akilit and numerous municipal officials were on hand for the MOA signing and machine turnover. A special award plaque was given to Director Rodriguez by Vicky Garcia of RICE, Inc. for his unwavering support of the project.

Signing the MOA. Seated from left to right, DA Director Rodriguez, MP Governor Dalog and Executive Director of RICE, Inc., Vicky Garcia

By processing their own rice, the farmers are expanding their understanding of the importance of improved farming practices in the field and quality standards for selecting and drying the grain; the result is a quality product for sale or personal use. Each sack of palay (threshed rice) was pre-inspected in the villages for correct variety type, uniform quality of grain and moisture content after drying. The quality of the palay put into the processing machines has a direct connection to the recovery rate of the finished rice. Despite all the brownouts and mechanical breakdowns, it was a successful processing. We look forward to the farmers stepping up to the challenge of using these machines for the basis of a successful cooperative enterprise.

Images from the processing in Mountain Province

 

Custom designed milling machines delivered and installed!

On August 17, 2009, two custom-designed millings machines, a dehuller-grain separator and a micro mill, were donated to the heirloom rice producers in Kalinga province.

New rice dehuller and grain separator

The donation was made possible through the leadership and support of the Philippine Department of Agriculture, its regional director Cesar Rodriquez (DA-CAR-RFU), and in partnership with RICE, Inc. The machines were custom designed by engineers at PhilRice, after extensive consultation with the farmers, to process the larger grained rice varieties that have a courser stalk and tougher hull than modern hybrid varieties.

Training on the operation of the dehuller/grain separator

The new processing equipment replicates the hand pounded quality that is done traditionally with a mortar and pestle. These laborsaving post-harvest machines are part of the effort to support the continued production of these rare varieties of rice.

Demonstrating the adjustments on the rice mill

Kalinga’s Congressman Manuel Agyao donated space in the Congressional Livelihood Center, Bulanao, Tabuk, Kalinga for housing the machines and the processing area.

Congressional Livelihood Center

After the machines were installed, an indepth training on the operation of the machines was given by Isagani Ramirez, agricultural mechanic from PhilRice, and two agri-technicians from the manufacturer, JHT Micro Enterprises. The Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Training Institute (ATI-CAR) supported the operators’ training. Funding support to RICE, Inc. for the design and purchase of the machines was generously given by students from the UNESCO sponsored OB Montessori School, Greenhills, Manila; and through a Panibagong Paraan 2008 award from the Peace and Equity Foundation, Quezon City.

Unveiling activities were sponsored by the Congressional office

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Tremendous Support from the DA Family

Over the past months, Vicky Garcia has been networking with many people within the Department of Agriculture to secure assistance for the Cordillera terrace farmers. Terrace farmers of native rice varieties are now included in the DA sponsored PalayCheck program for yield improvement, as well as trainings on the Natural Farming System sponsored by the DA’s Agriculture Training Institute (ATI).

In a recent meeting on August 09, 2009 in Baguio City with the Director Cesar Rodriguez, Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region-Regional Field Unit (DA-CAR_RFU), Director Rodriguez reiterated his support for the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project.

Meeting with the Department of Agriculture's Regional Director Rodriguez (CAR)

Check out what Director Rodriguez has to say about the Cordillera Heirloom Rice project at our YouTube posting at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOGhZDhuV3o

 

Training of Trainers

Over the last three years, the number of farmers wishing to participate in the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project has grown. In order to help farmers increase and improve their production of heirloom rice, RICE Inc. is working to increase the number of knowledgeable inspectors available to work within their villages.

On June 9-11, 2009, RICE, Inc. conducted a Training of Trainers for quality control inspectors. A total of thirty-one farmer-inspectors and agriculture technicians, most of whom had previously been certified quality control inspectors, participated in this first Training of Trainers. Attending were 19 farmers, 9 agri-technicans and 3 provincial level agriculture officers. Eight municipalities and four provinces, including a full team from Benguet Province!, were represented at the training.

Participants in the ToT workshop

The three-day workshop was made possible by funding from the Cordillera Heirloom Rice Project’s partners: RICE Inc, the Agriculture Training Institute–Cordillera Region (ATI-CAR), the National Irrigation Administration (NIA-CAR), and the local government units (LGUs) of the provincial and municipal agriculture offices.

The training module used was based on the 6 “Ps”:
1.    PROJECT BACKGROUND- Inspectors must know the background of the project; the vision/mission and the goals; and how those principles are being carried out.
2.    PRODUCT- Inspectors must understand that the focus on the characteristics of the heirloom rice is based on the findings/research done by the market.
3.    PROCESS- Inspectors must understand the different activities needed to carry out the production of quality product and which activities support and validate the quality control standards..,i.e.-from selection of acceptable seed/variety; harvesting-drying-milling to storage.
4.    PEOPLE- Manpower is as crucial as the product to the success of this project. This project is firmly rooted in the values, skills and knowledge of the farmers. The trainers must understand the role of every stakeholder –farmers, inspectors, LGUs, operators and the cooperatives– that supports the whole engine of the enterprise.
5.    PARTNERS- The project and the stakeholders can not stand alone without collaborating with local government units, agriculture offices on all levels, as well as other agencies that work in tandem with agriculture sectors: PhilRice; ATI-DA-RFU; NIA and BPRE,
6.    PLAN- At the end of the three day seminar, farmers and all stakeholders developed a plan and set a date for follow through on the agreements that are made in order to comply with the quality “P’s”…production, process, partners and the people involved.

Information was presented through power point presentations, pictures taken over the past years of project development, and demonstration teaching.  At the end of each module, participants were required to lead a small workshop.

Participants in action

Vicky Garcia, who developed the training, was the lead facilitator. She was assisted during the demonstration-teaching segment by members of RICE Inc.’s Board of Directors, Debbie Achawon and Angel Opiana, and by Jovy Camso from OPAG.

 

Research on native rice varieties presented at conferences

RICE, Inc. welcomes serious researchers who wish to observe the project. In 2008, three foreign graduate students conducted research around some aspect of native rice varieties. Recently, the results from two of the researchers were presented at conferences in the United Kingdom and France.

Giselle Aris, masters candidate at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University, was invited to present her research at the Green Templeton College Human Welfare Conference on “Globalisation and Human Welfare: Innovations in Sustainable Solutions.” The student conference took place on May 9-10, 2009.

Ms Aris also presented her research at Cambridge University’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) International Workshop on May 22, 2009.  The workshop theme was “Fair Trade – A Moral economy? Does Fair Trade change the rules of the economic game?”

Inspecting the harvest in Pasil, Kalinga

Her thesis is entitled Producer Organization: A Market-led Approach to Tackling Poverty in the Rural Philippines.  At the GTC Human Welfare Conference, Giselle received the William Kadetz Memorial Award for Innovation in Human Welfare Research.

Ms Aris has accepted a position with the Navachetana Foundation, a microfinance NGO based in Haveri, a rural town in Karnanataka state, India. Congratulations and best wishes to Giselle as she embarks on new challenges in her chosen career!

Aurelie Durquet , a doctoral candidate at the Museum National d’ Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Paris, France presented her research at an International Symposium on “Localizing products: a sustainable approach for natural and cultural diversity in the South,” on June 9-11, 2009 in Paris.

Ms Durquet’s doctoral thesis is entitled: Le riz Tinawon de la province ifugao (Philippines): commercialisation, recompositions sociales et territoriales.

The aim of this international conference was to bring together the scientific communities of both South and North countries across a range of disciplines whose complementary approaches are indispensable to a full comprehension of current issues. The symposium highlighted research and development programs supported by national research agencies, the European Union and other national and international organizations such as the French Global Environment Fund, MAB/UNESCO and the World Wildlife Federation in the areas of biodiversity, agriculture, and sustainable development. The symposium was organized by UNESCO, IRD, CIRAD, and MNHN.