DEMO FARM. Farmers, together with officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA), conduct a field day on Tuesday (March 1, 2022) in a hybrid rice technology demonstration farm which was put up in Barangay Cruz, Victoria, Tarlac in 2021. The DA, in partnership with seed companies, established the demonstration farm to showcase different hybrid rice varieties. (Photo courtesy of the DA-Region 3) CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - The Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office 3 (RFO3) will continue to implement the rice hybridization program in Central Luzon to attain rice self-sufficiency. DA-RFO 3 Regional Seed Coordinator Christian Ramos cited on Wednesday the importance of continuing the program to encourage more farmers to go into hybrid rice farming which is proven to increase yield. "Magpapatuloy ang hybridization program dahil tumutulong ito upang mapataas ang pagiging produktibo sa tuntunin ng paggawa ng bigas (The hybridization program will continue because it helps increase productivity in terms of rice production)," Ramos said in a social media post. He said the objective of the program is to promote the use of recommended hybrid rice varieties and the adoption of new technologies that can help improve the farmers' livelihood and make the rice industry sustainable and sufficient. Lina S. Apolonio, the chairperson of the AMIA Cruz Farmers Association in Victoria, Tarlac, encouraged her fellow farmers to use hybrid seeds and take advantage of the DA's hybridization program. "Kung dati ay ang magsasaka ay namomroblema sa binhi, ngayon ay hindi na po dahil sa tulong ng Department of Agriculture, ng Office of Provincial Agriculturist ng LGU. Kaya hinihikayat ko po ang aking mga kapwa magsasaka na akapin ang programang hybridization dahil napapaganda nito ang ating ani at isa na po ako sa nagpapatunay nito (If farmers previously had problem on seeds, it is different now because of the help of the Department of Agriculture, Office of Provincial Agriculturist of the LGU. So, I encourage my fellow farmers to embrace the hybridization program because it improved our harvest and I am one of those who can prove that)," Apolonio said. The DA, together with some local officials and representatives of seed companies, conducted a field day on Tuesday in a provincial hybrid rice technology demonstration farm which was put up in Barangay Cruz, Victoria town last year. The AMIA Cruz Farmers Association which has 29 members, served as the cooperator of the demonstration farm that aims to promote different hybrid rice varieties. Six seed companies, namely Longping Tropical Rice Development Inc., SL Agritech Corporation, SeedWorks Philippines Inc., Bayer Crop Science, Corteva Agriscience, and Syngenta, on the other hand, served as consultants for the farmers in planting hybrid rice seeds. DA-3 Regional Director Crispulo Bautista earlier asked for the support of the seed companies in the implementation of the rice hybridization program by conducting field demonstrations to showcase their different rice varieties and products. The rice hybridization program is one of the strategies of DA to increase production through the provision of hybrid seeds adaptable to the region. (PNA) }