TAGBILARAN CITY – On Monday, November 6, 2023, the Office of Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) spearheaded the start of National Rice Awareness Month (NRAM) in Bohol.

The kick-off ceremony was held in the atrium of the Bohol Quality (BQ) Mall in this city, and attendees included farmers, youth sector representatives, agricultural extension workers, municipal agriculturists, rice technologists, agriculture line agencies, and private seed businesses.

The Department of Agriculture's VII Regional Field Office (DA-RFO), the Agricultural Training Institute's VII Regional Training Center (ATI-RTC VII), and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) collaborated on this endeavor.

ATI Director Gracia Arado greeted attendees and interested parties and emphasized the annual event's theme, "Be RICEponsible."

Roman Dabalos, APCO- Bohol based at Bohol Agricultural Promotion Center (BAPC), advocated for the province's agriculture sector to continue working together in the implementation of the rice program on behalf of DA-Central Visayas Director Angel Enriquez.

Dabalos pointed out that, as per Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, 78% of Central Visayas' rice needs are met by Bohol.

Activities for the month-long celebration include the following: feeding program to island barangays in Ubay, Bien Unido and Talibon, Bohol on November 15-17, 2023, respectively; RICEponcible fun run on November 25, 2023; Farmer's Big Day on November 29, 2023, radio and Facebook rice trivia.