With productive rice yields leading to food security as its bedrock, DA RFO 8 carried out a prolific Eastern Visayas Rice Derby Season 4โthe biggest rice derby ever held in the regionโtailored to nurture farmersโ proficiency through cutting-edge farm technology demonstrations and lectures on sustainable farming practices at Hinunangan, Leyte.
The Rice Derby Season 4 which has commenced on May 2025 and culminated this September, is a four month-long activity where farmers are immersed in scientifically grounded, sustainable farming practices, and modern agricultural technology through lectures and hands-on experience.
In his message, Regional Technical Director for Operations, Dir. Larry Sultan, underscored the very cause that puts the derby in motion. โ๐๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช, ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด? ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐จ-๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐จ๐ช. ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข๐จ-๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ช๐บ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅ-๐ญ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅโ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ข๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข ๐ถ๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ he underscored.
(Our objective is to introduce innovations. What is innovation? Okay. Modern practices. Hopefully, there will be modern technology showcased later. The objective of all these endeavors is to increase farmersโ productivity and efficiency through mechanization.)
The Rice Derby also serves as a conducive venue for information dissemination and knowledge sharing.
Thirty-one agricultural firms held demonstrations relative to the use and efficacy of their respective products, which include biofertilizer, seed varieties, social ameliorants, and inorganic fertilizers. In total, sixteen stations installed for their exhibits were occupied by the 31 participating agricultural companies.
In addition, former Director Leo P. Caneda, MRIDP Consultant, presented pivotal facts and vital information about the regional situation of rice in Eastern Visayas and advocated for an adoptive balance fertilization strategy.
Dir. Leo also stressed the magnitude of the Rice Derby that transpired in Hinunangan. He said, โThis derby in Hinunangan, Southern Leyte, covers a total area of 154.56 hectares, making this derby the biggest ever held in Region 8. Also, the biggest in terms of the number of participating farmer-cooperators. Imagine, 496 warm bodies have dedicated their life, energy, and material resources just to make sure that this derby in Hinunangan would take off with resounding great approval.โ
In addition, Eddie Labrador, Farmer-Cooperator, also lauded the continued bending over backwards of the Department of Agriculture to deliver its mandate to uplift Philippine agriculture. He noted, โKarong adlawa atong napamatud-an na dili diay imposible ang pagkab-ot sa dagkong abot kung ang gobyerno mutabang sa mga parag-uma sama sa gipakita sa ato karon niining programa sa rice derby. Salamat sa Department of Agriculture sa ayuda namong mga mag-uuma sama sa libreng abuno, binhi, ug ayudang cash nga nagpagaan sa among paras-anon sa pang pag-uma.โ
(Today we are able to ascertain that productive yields are not impossible with government support to farmers, similar to what this Rice Derby brought. I thank the Department of Agriculture for their continued distribution of assistance to farmers that includes fertilizer, seeds, and financial aid, which has eased our burden.)
The Rice Derby, in general, aims to increase rice yields in the region, ensuring food security.
