As part of the city’s commitment to recognize the role of rice in providing food to Dabawenyos, Davao City has joined the rice awareness month, which is celebrated every November.
Rice Awareness Month is in pursuance of Proclamation No. 524, which declares November as National Rice Awareness Month (NRAM) to raise public knowledge of rice and its connection to poverty and hunger in order to maintain food security.
Pablita Almador, Focal Person of the rice production of the City Agriculturist Office (CAgrO) said during the I-speak media forum on Thursday that the local government participated in the official opening ceremony of Organic Agriculture Month and Rice Awareness Month at the Gaisano Grand CityGate Buhangin on November 8.
She said several discussions about the importance of organic farming and rice in Davao City were held during the ceremony.
She said they also conducted a series of write shops for farmers and created a 5-year development plan for rice commodities.
She added the write shops also became an avenue for them to know the struggles farming are facing and give interventions to them.
“Sa karon man gud ginaduso nga i-cluster ang atoang mga small farmers association and irrigator’s association sa mga rice. So nag-conduct ta og series write-shop. Gi-separate nato ang irrigated low-land, rain-fed lowland, and upland rice farmers natin (Right now it is being pushed to cluster our small farmer’s association and irrigator’s association in rice. So we conduct a series write-shop. We separated our irrigated low-land, rain-fed lowland, and upland rice farmers),” she said.
“Kato nga series of writer shops ato’ng gihimo ang 5-year development plan for the rice commodity alone. Didto nato nadungog ang mga hagit, kahuyang, opportunity, ug strength sa mga rice farmers. Didto pod nato gikuha unsaon nato paghatag og interventions, base didto sa ilahang na-identify nga mga problem in relation sa rice production (In that series of write shops we created the 5-year development plan for the rice commodity alone. There we heard the challenges, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths of the rice farmers. We then considered how we may provide interventions based on the identified problems about rice production),” she added.
She also said that to increase rice output, CAgrO is also exploring lands in Marilog and Paquibato.
“Ang ginatan-aw na lang karon atoang Engineering’s Division is makakita ta og source sa tubig nga pwede magamit para irrigated gyud sya (Our Engineering’s Division is looking at now is to find a source of water that can be used to irrigate it),” she said.
She said fertilizers have also been distributed to rice farmers, particularly those impacted by landslides and floods.
“Naa napod sa plan sa City Agriculturist Office nga mag-procure na pod siya og in-bred seeds as buffer sa calamity alone (The City Agriculturist Office plans to procure in-bread seeds as a buffer in the calamity alone),” she said.
A total of 200 bags of the Dinorado rice were also given to upland rice farmers. CIO
