1 week Ago By Rice News
To accelerate the transformation of the Philippine rice industry, the Department of Agriculture-Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (DA-MRIDP) convened key rice industry stakeholders for the 2025–2026 Assessment and Planning Workshop for Rice Clustering and Consolidation on April 21–23, 2025. DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Christopher Morales urged the participants during the opening program to commit to the MRIDP’s vision of empowered farmers and strategically supported communities through clustering and consolidation. “Clustering and consolidation are not just logistical strategies.
They are instruments of empowerment,” he said as MRIDP envisions clusters to be the basic unit of intervention and support delivery. He added the workshop is a vital step toward fostering a cohesive, resilient, and inclusive future for local rice farmers. The workshop tackled the overall needs and gaps for rice clusters, mass roll-out of activities and processes including the cluster recognition and registration processes, spatial aggregational planning for the ungrouped rice farmers, assessment and categorization of organization maturity, and MRIDP pathway alignment.
MRIDP Rice Clustering and Consolidation Director Emerson Yago emphasized the importance of supporting rice clusters in transitioning to cooperatives, enabling them to expand into agribusiness and improve their overall growth. The Rice Clustering and Consolidation Guidelines to ensure alignment of targets and activities of the DA-Regional Field Offices (RFOs), operationalization of targets including the registration and updating of farmer and cluster databases, value chain maps, protocols for package-based interventions, and cluster-specific interventions were also discussed. “Let’s co-create policies and strategies that respond to real-world needs.
Let’s make this workshop a launchpad for impact—guided by data, enriched by experience, and fueled by heart. Because when we cluster, we build community. When we consolidate, we build power,” Usec.
Morales challenged attendees to go beyond theoretical plans. Among the key DA officials present were RFO IV-B Director Christopher Bañas, RFO II Director Rose Mary Aquino, RFO VI Director Dennis Arpia, Agricultural Training Institute Director Remelyn Recoter, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority Director Glenn Estrada, and Field Operations Service OIC-Director Lorna Belinda Calda. Representatives from the National Irrigation Administration, National Food Authority, Landbank of the Philippines, Cooperative Development Authority, Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement (PRISM), International Rice Research Institute, Rice Productivity Advocacy Inc.
(Rice Board), and SIKAP/STRIVE also participated, contributing their insights and expertise. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin-Rosas, DA-AFID, photo by Michael John Galivo, DA-Mimaropa RFO RAFIS) Published Date: April 24, 2025.
