International rice-ducks conference starts today

CEBU, Philippines – The 6th International Rice-Ducks (Aigamo) Conference will start today with more than 100 delegates from all over Asia, Africa and Europe to exchange ideas, experiences and learning on Integrated Rice-Ducks Technology in organic farming.

Improved and popularized by Dr. Takao Furuno of Japan, the Integrated Rice-Ducks Farming Technology is now gaining wide acceptance all over Asia, especially in the Philippines, as the solution to farmers’ problem on the skyrocketing prices of commercial synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

Furuno, who got a doctoral degree in agriculture from the Kyushu University in Japan in September 2007 without going to the university because of his dissertation on the Integrated Rice-Ducks Technology, will address the conference. He will talk on the “Traditional and Modern Matters on Rice Cultivation Associated with Duck.”

Aside from Furuno, also scheduled to address the conference is Dr. Shaikh Tanveer Hossain, manager of the Agriculture and Marketing Division of the Padakhep Manabik Unnayan Kendra (Center for Sustained Human Development) of Bangladesh, who will talk on “Improvement of Rural Livelihood through Integrated Rice-Duck Farming System in Bangladesh.”

The conference, to be held at the University of San Carlos (USC), Talamban Campus, is organized by the Philippine Agrarian Reform Foundation for National Development (PARFUND) and co-sponsored by the University of San Carlos, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI), PhilRice and Toyota Foundation.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Makoto Katsura will also address the conference. Ambassador Katsura was especially invited because most of the conference participants are Japanese organic farmers.

In the Philippines, the Integrated Rice-Ducks Technology is gaining wide acceptance through the works of Mr. Apollo “Poloy” Pacamalan and Dr. Antonio Barroga, who are also scheduled to share their knowledge and experiences on the technology to the delegates.

Xavier University’s Appropriate Technology Center Executive Director Dr. Rachel Polestico will also talk on “Rice-Ducks in Relation to Methane Gas Emission.”

Mayor Irenea Hitgano of Trento, Agusan del Sur will also talk on “Integrated Rice-Ducks Farming as a Strategy in Improving Agricultural Governance.”

Hitgano adopted the technology after learning it from Pacamalan, who is doing the rounds propagating the technology using his own resources.

Realizing the importance of the Integrated Rice-Ducks Technology to the government’s food security program, the provincial government of Agusan del Sur recently launched a province-wide rice-ducks farming system after the municipality of Trento, which had earlier adopted the technology, showed positive results in improving not only the economic lives of the farmers but also the food security of the town.

According to PARFUND Executive Director Jose Noel “Butch” Olano, the Integrated Rice-Ducks Technology is an alternative farming system that will provide solutions to the problem of farmers’ dependence on synthetic pesticide and fertilizer.

Aside from this, the technology is also friendly to the environment. — PR/LPM (THE FREEMAN)