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MAGRICE: The healthy secret food of Magsaysay, Davao del Sur

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MagRice is a rice variety that has gained popularity among health-conscious consumers and is readily available in the market. It hails from Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur, the reason why it is called MagRice.

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MagRice comes in three colors red, black and brown. Photo Courtesy: Magsaysay Organic Farmers Cooperative (MOFARMCO)
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MagRrice is available in three colors: brown, black, and red, each offering unique health benefits. The brown rice known for its health advantages is sold in five-kilogram packs. The Black rice variety is exceptionally nutrient-rich, containing substantial amounts of lutein, a carotenoid that promotes eye health. It is available in three-kilogram packs. While, red rice is enriched with antioxidants and magnesium and is also a great source of fiber and has several digestive functions. It is sold in two-kilogram packs.

Helen Carampatana, the municipal agricultural officer of Magsaysay, explained that Magsaysay Rice is a result of the commitment of the Municipal Government of Magsaysay to organic farming.  

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The introduction of organic farming to the community was initiated by the Don Bosco Brothers in Barangay Batasan, Makilala, North Cotabato, back in 2002.

Carampatana highlighted that the Magsaysay local government, under the leadership of Mayor Arthur David, fully embraced the concept of organic farming and took proactive steps to implement it in the rice fields of Magsaysay long before the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 was enacted.

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One of the organic rice fields at Magsaysay, Davao Del Sur. (Photo Courtesy: Magsaysay Organic Farmers Cooperative)
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“In 2002, the local government unit of Magsaysay town introduced the project called the Integrated Pest Management Program-Diversified Organic Farming System and in 2005, the LGU Magsaysay partnered formally with the Don Bosco Multi-purpose Cooperative and the Don Bosco Youth Center to teach the farmers in Magsaysay organic farming for a period of five year.  Only 115 farmers responded with 87 hectares of rice fields,” she said.

Carampatana said that instead of using harmful pesticides, farmers adopted a practice of spraying rice stalks with milk and honey.

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She further mentioned that farmers underwent training to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and techniques for organic farming.

“The farmers made use of the mixture of milk and honey and proper management of integrated pests by enticing friendly pests like ants, spiders to remain in the ecosystem,” she said.

This Practice of organic farming had brought about the existence of the Magsaysay Rice, a brand name conceptualized with the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry in Davao del Sur.

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Vast Magsaysay Rice field that planted by the farmers of Magsaysay Organic Farmers Cooperative. (Photo from MOFARMCO)
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She added that in 2008, the Magsaysay LGU registered the Magsaysay Organic Farmers and Workers’ Association with the Department of Labor and Employment to help the group stand on its own.

“However, the group had been problematic in marketing the Magrice.It then partnered with the Kiloglog Multi-purpose Farmers’ Cooperative with the Magsaysay Organic Farmers’ Cooperative as its marketing arm,” Carampatana said.

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Benefits of the MagRice as demonstrated by the Promotional Material of Magsaysay Organic Farmers Agriculture Cooperative (MOFARMCO).
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Vice Mayor Arthur Davin, an organic farming advocate, said that organic farming has a lower financial investment required in every cropping season, resulting in a generally good net profit in return.

“The good news is that more and more rice farmers using the conventional method of farming are turning to organic farming, lured by the overall and long-term benefits that organic farming method generates,” he said.

Davin said farmers in the organic farming are members of the Magsaysay Organic Farmers Marketing Cooperative which ensures that the product has markets in the malls in big cities like Davao, Digos, General Santos and Koronadal with P50 to P55 per kilo, much higher than the average price of P45 of the well-milled rice.

He said the cooperative has a total of 46 organic farming communities covering the areas from Magsaysay, Bansalan and Matanao towns.

Davin said that the yield per hectare may not be as high as those that are using chemicals, but it has greatly reduced the cost of farm inputs.

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He recalled that in two years after it was introduced in the market, MagRice was adjudged as the Best One Town One Product (OTOP) Product in Davao del Sur in 2007 and was also cited as 2nd Best OTOP Product in Food Category in Mindanao during the “Yamang Mindanao 2007.

The Department of Agriculture XI also cited Vice Mayor Arthur Davin as the father of organic farming in Davao Region in 2014, 2017 and 2018, during the Regional Organic Agriculture Achievers Awards.

For the past 18 years, farmers belonging to the Magsaysay Organic Farmers Marketing Cooperative showcased the organic rice in various trade fairs in Mindanao. (JSGD/PIA Davao del Sur)

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Joey Sem Dalumpines

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Region 11

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