PhilRice project receives Arab Gulf dev’t award

MANILA, Philippines - The Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OpAPA), a project by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is the recipient of $100,000 in the Government Category of the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND), the first time that a Philippine project had won the award.

The award was given to PhilRice during the awarding ceremonies of the AGFUND International Prize for the 2011 and 2010 winners yesterday at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City.

PhilRice won back in 2010 but the awarding ceremony in Egypt had to be cancelled due to social unrest.

The 2010 AGFUND International Prize theme was “The Use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Youth Empowerment.”

The OpAPA is an online learning portal that provides continuing education to farmers and agriculture professionals.

The project, which offers information in several Filipino languages, also provides lessons and professional assistance through mobile text messaging, allowing them to reach more farmers in the countryside.

Since the OpAPA started operations, it has registered 30,000 rice farmers through its Pinoy Farmer’s Text Center, which receive regular updates on rice prices and agriculture related news. It has Text Centers in Batac, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Los Baños, Bicol, Negros Occidental, Agusan del Norte, and Cotabato.

OpAPA also sends staff to certain farming areas for training and to provide video conferencing materials. It has also put up a new website, pinoyrkb.com, a more specialized website for agriculture professionals.

In his speech, PhilRice information technology officer Roger Barroga said the OpAPA project has gained momentum over the years through the support of private institutions and farming communities.

He cited the need for farmers to be constantly updated on the latest agricultural trends, enabling them to develop new farming techniques and processes to suit the needs of their markets.

“We have shown through the OpAPA that farmers can use ICT, protect their farms, increase their production, connect to markets, and with help from the community, through local government and state colleges and universities to be able to manage and sustain rural ICT,” Barroga said.

The AGFUND focuses on programs that support poverty alleviation and sustainability projects. Each year, the award has specific themes that project proponents from participating countries must adhere to.

In the case of OpAPA, the theme was the use of ICT and youth empowerment.