COTABATO CITY (PIA) - Some 180 farmers from three municipalities in Maguindanao will undergo upland rice production training from December 2021 to March 2022; the traiing  aims to improve their yield using suitable rice varieties.

The Department of Agriculture - Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) Midsayap station, the lead agency for Upland Rice-based Farming Technology Transfer Program for the Bangsamoro (RTPB), announced on Thursday that the chosen municipalities for the second batch include Datu Odin Sinsuat, Guindulungan, and Datu Hoffer.

According to Dr. Sailila E. Abdula, DA-PhilRice Midsayap director, farmers will learn and enhance their knowledge on rice production that are suited for the upland ecosystem through farmers’ field school, and technology demonstration farms to be established in all project sites.

“We aim is to improve the living standards of the Bangsamoro people in the target sites through agriculture. Specifically, it seeks to achieve adaption of suitable and modern upland rice practices by over 70% of target farmers,” said Abdula who is also the DA assistant secretary for BARMM.

The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and co-implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR).

Aside from technical training, farmers will receive free rice seeds to apply what they have learned in their own farms.

The first batch of farmers trained on February to July 2021. PhilRice reported 180 farmers from Buldon, Barira and Matanog, Maguindanao  completed the said training resulting to the adaption of NSIC Rc 27, an inbred rice variety recommended for upland areas.