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Sunday, August 20, 2006
3rd shipment of Kalinga 'unoy' rice to US readied
KALINGA province is preparing the third shipment of its renowned Unoy rice to the international market in Montana in the US after its demand has remarkably increased.
Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Julie Aclam said the province is targeting some six metric tons of Unoy rice to be shipped to the US this October-November cropping.
As part of its preparation, Aclam said their office, in coordination with Revitalized Indigenous Cordillera Entrepreneur (Rice) Inc., is undertaking measures to improve the market quality of Unoy.
Agricultural products being sold at the international market should pass certain quality standard.
Foremost, products marketed should be grown naturally without any chemical input. Under this, Rice Inc. and the province conducted a seminar to 17 Kalinga Unoy farmers with the assistance from the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines on organic farming.
This would certify the Unoy as organic.
Another quality required for rice being sold there is that it should be at least 85 percent full grain.
During the seminar, Rice coordinator Vicky Garcia asked the farmers to produce on-the-spot, hand-pounded Unoy rice and showed them the quality accepted for the international market.
US consumers also prefer hand pounded rice because of its nutritional content. Research has shown that hand pounding preserves the iron content of rice.
Because of the increasing demand for Unoy Rice Inc. feared that farmers in the province may resort to a slash and burn system to expand the area to be planted.
Right now, some 850 hectares of the province’s upland is devoted to Unoy production.
Garcia warned that while there is money in Unoy production, “there is equally an important concern for our farmers to protect the environment. We witness today serious damages caused to lives and properties because many have inflicted serious damage to the environment as well.”
“This, we do not want to happen in Kalinga just so we could market our product in the international market,” she stressed.
Garcia warned that Rice Inc. will not buy any Unoy rice found to have been grown through slash and burn. “This will be the added function of the trained farmer inspectors who will monitor Unoy production at the village levels,” he added.
Rice Inc. buys the Unoy from farmers at P50/kilo and ships it to the US.
(August 20, 2006 issue)
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