Skip to main content

150 farmers join cross-farm visit in MMSU

By
Visitors take a photo at the rice paddy art in front of the administration building of the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac Campus. It features an image of former first lady Imelda Marcos.  (Contributed photo)

   
By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff Reporter

Batac CITY—Around 150 local farmers, students, researchers, and extension workers among others joined a cross-farm visit the state-run Mariano Marcos State University-Batac Campus hosted on November 12, 2019.

Showcasing the best agricultural practices being advocated by research experts of the university, the cross-farm visit features the MMSU-CARES farm at Brgy. Quiling Sur in this city, the President’s Farm and Seed Production Project in front of the College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (CAFSD), and the rice paddy art at the university’s administration building.

Every year, MMSU is conducting this activity to inspire more farmers to plant high yielding and resilient varieties of rice and the application of appropriate technologies to boost productivity.

“No awan iti imula, awan met ti maapit. Itultuloytayo ngarud a tagibenen dagiti imulatayo a pagay tapno nalabonto met ti maapittayo [If we don’t plant, we have no harvest. Let us take good care of our rice plants to ensure good harvest],” said MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis during the ceremonial planting at the rice paddy art of MMSU.

The rice paddy art showing the face of former first lady Imelda Marcos is among the instant attractions of the activity.

It was learned the MMSU and PhilRice created the rice paddy art using IR 1552, a traditional Korean purple rice variety and a high-yielding PSB Rc 82, where planters used the anamorphosis principle. This technique is being used in 3D art where a picture looks distorted but appears normal when viewed from a certain angle.

Like in previous year, the rice paddy art aims to promote the importance of rice farming and the unique art of doing so. Mrs. Agrupis reiterated to the student-participants the exciting business of modern agriculture which also includes art and science.

“For students who are taking up agriculture, may you continue your passion to become the next agricultural researchers who will feed and strengthen the agriculture industry in the future,” she said.

Other participants in the cross-farm visit include PhilRice-Batac Director Reynaldo C. Castro, Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecile Araneta-Marcos, Ilocos Norte Sangguniang Kabataan Federated Chairman Rafael Medina, Sangguniang Panlalawigan members Medeldorf Gaoat and Aladine Santos. There were also representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and MMSU personnel.

Meanwhile, the President’s Farm and Seed Production Project of MMSU serve as a model for farmers in using high quality rice seeds to increase farmers productivity.

Under Rice Seedstock Dispersal Project of MMSU established in 2000, farmer-beneficiaries can avail of high-yielding varieties of rice and organic fertilizer but they have to pay it back to the university after harvest. To date, there are 81 farmer-beneficiaries under this program.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By
By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become...
9 comments
Read more

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

By
 Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said.    Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel...
Post a Comment
Read more

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

By
BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy.   18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi...
Post a Comment
Read more