“DA-IRRI Collaboration, Including Initiatives In Crop Diversification” – Reports William Dar, PH Secretary Of Agriculture. “Man Does Not Live On Rice Alone!” – Frank A Hilario

I have never been happier about rice than hearing from Secretary of Agriculture William Dar about the Department of Agriculture’s (DA’s) “strengthened partnership” with IRRI as reported by Eireene Jairee Gomez 26 March 2022.

The partnership is via PhilRice, a DA agency. Can you guess the magic words in these 2 paragraphs from Ms Eireene’s report “DA Intensifies Partnership With IRRI” (Manila Times, manilatimes.net):

"With all the challenges that Philippine agriculture is facing right now, we have responded to the urgent need to rethink current policies on food production. The DA is ready to propose and present to the incoming administration the food sovereignty roadmap," Dar told IRRI officials led by Director General Jean Balié.

For his part, Balié (enumerated) priorities for DA-IRRI collaboration, including initiatives (in) crop diversification and conduct of more demand-South-South partnership, which aims to strengthen the research expertise and capacity of rice-growing countries in the region.

You could not have guessed it, but these are the 5 words that made me “rejoice and be exceeding glad” (borrowing from Handel’s Messiah):

“… including initiatives in crop diversification.”

Both agencies were born many years ago: IRRI 1960, PhilRice 1985 – and yet both international and national agencies have persisted in carrying out research & development (R&D) works strictly and singly on rice, while this truth should have been obvious before IRRI was born:

Man does not live on rice alone!

Above, the lower image is of a Palayamanan model farm (from Facebook, m.faceboo.com). “Palayamanan” is a combination of 2 Tagalogwords: “palay” (rice) and “yaman” (riches). My translation: RiceRiches. I can’t find the information on when and who conceptualized RiceRiches as an R&D project, but I think it has been there since at least the year 2000.

Now then, I do not understand why PhilRice “faltered” on Palayamanan while IRRI never minded this farming innovation enough to study it further for Asians other than Filipinos.

I thinkerer remind both PhilRice and IRRI by repeating to say:
“Man does not live on rice alone!”

Palayamanan is featured in PhilRice’s website “Pinoy Rice Knowledge Bank” (pinoyrice.com) with this list (numbering mine) of:

BENEFITS
1. Continuous food supply
2. Higher income and economic stability
3. Increased farm productivity and sustainability
4. Reduced production risk
5. Maximized use of land or better resource allocation
6. Enhanced diversity and ecological balance
7. More crops for the market (I added this one).

Now then, all these years, why has PhilRice not literally distributed those multiple benefits all over the Philippines?!

Not too late. Since I see that the Palayamanan website itself is uninviting and lacks options for decision, I am volunteering as a one-man band to write, edit, and layout, up to a pdf copy, a resource book titled RiceRiches written in English understandable by high schoolers; later, translated to major languages – produced & printed within 57 days. Budget from the DA please!

Palayamanan (RiceRiches) is Manna from Heaven that has been denied to Mortals far too long!@517