ILOILO City – The Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 6 is again calling on the public to patronize alternative staple food rather than relying solely on rice.
“There is pressure in the rice industry to produce more. The country’s per capita consumption is 119 kilos per person,” said DA regional executive director Remelyn Recoter.
Consuming cassava, sweet potato or camote, banana (saba variety) and even white corn can reduce the demand for rice, said Recoter during the recent kickoff of the observance of Rice Awareness Month this November.
She added that the 70-30 rice-corn mixture is found to be acceptable based on a study conducted among schoolchildren in Los Baños, Laguna. It has better nutritional values.
In addition, DA is also pushing for brown rice consumption, which is healthier compared with the well-milled rice.
Nonetheless, this Rice Awareness Month, Recoter encouraged the public to be “RICEponsible”. One of the objectives of the celebration is to instill the values of responsible rice consumption among consumers.
“What is important is we would be able to disseminate to our consuming public the importance of rice, being the staple food not only of Filipinos but half of the population of the globe. In the Philippines, rice is considered a political commodity,” she said.
The RICEponsible campaign also focuses on improving the competitiveness of farmers to produce quality rice.
“We are hoping that with the interventions of the government we would be able to uplift the lives of our farmers,” Recoter added.
This year’s celebration theme is “Quality Rice, Quality Life.”
“In the theme we are encouraging stakeholders to patronize local products, especially the produce of Filipino farmers, such as our rice variants to achieve safe and quality food for a long life,” said James Earl Ogatis, DA regional information officer. (PNA)
