“Every morsel of rice should be consumed. It took six months to produce that morsel”, was the drive of Mayor Fortunato R. Abrenilla during the launching of the 2013 National Year of Rice (NYR) on April 18 held at the Capt. Gregorio Casenas Hall.
Spearheaded by the Municipal Agriculture Office, the municipal launching of Proclamation No. 494 “Declaring The Year 2013 As The National Year of Rice And Directing the Department of Agriculture To Lead Its Celebration” was done. Attended by presidents of the different irrigators’ associations, representatives of civil society organizations, punong barangays, municipal officials and employees, representatives from the Provincial Agriculture Office the launching obtained the commitment of the attendees to support the goals of the National Year of Rice thru signature support. The goals of the NYR 2013 are to achieve rice self-sufficiency
Signature support for 2013 National Year of Rice and its goals of increasing rice production and public awarenes on responsible consumption.
and promote awareness on responsible rice consumption.
According to Mayor Abrenilla achieving rice self-sufficiency is very ambitious which entails a significant investment from the government as the Philippines is not naturally irrigated a major requirement for rice production. However, the mayor said that it can be done as long as rice productivity increases by employing innovative techniques to increase yield coupled with responsible consumption and changing the eating habits of Filipinos. The mayor said that changing the psyche of every Filipino is a major step towards achieving the goals of NYR 2013 and he is in full support of Proclamation No. 494.
A ceremonial distribution of foundation seeds from Philrice was done. The Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) distributed four
Mayor Abrenilla distributes foundation seeds to farmer-irrigator association presidents.
varieties (NSIC Rc 160, NSIC Rc 218 SR, NSIC 240 and NSIC 238) to the irrigators associations. The four varieties have been tested by the rice technicians of the MAO to be suitable to Jagna as rice is location-specific.
The NYR 2013 advocates “Thank a farmer today” and “Farmers are living heroes”. Farmers feed the whole nation but they are not recognized. They work hard to till the farms to be able to produce more for the whole nation. It is deserving that this 2013 National Year of Rice they will be recognized. Truly they are heroes breaking their bones for the benefit of all Filipinos.
