The Department of Agriculture (DA) led by Secretary William D. Dar, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to solidify the implementation of the “We Will Rice Program” among the Yovel East Research and Development, Inc. and the Yakap at Halik Multi-Purpose Cooperative Quezon 1 (YHMPCQ1).

The said program, which was launched by Yovel East, adheres to the OneDA Reform Agenda’s major strategies of farm clustering, provision of farm machineries by the government, and engagement of private institutions in agricultural endeavors.

Under the MOU, Yovel East will procure the palay harvests of the YHMPCQ1, which is a beneficiary of the “We Will Rice Program,” to “shield the farmers from the drastic drop of wet palay price.”

It will also look for institutional buyers for the procured rice and create a technology system to lower palay production costs.

“If we continue ‘yong small land holdings without looking for the mechanism to group ourselves collectively, then kahit anong galing ng Presidente at gaano kagaling ng Secretary [of Agriculture], walang patutunguhan ang bansa. Kaya kailangan natin ang economies of scale through clustering,” Secretary Dar expressed.

Meanwhile, the YHMPCQ1 also received a Certificate of Award from the DA – Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), granting them a four-wheel tractor, a precision rice seeder, and a rice combine harvester as part of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund’s (RCEF) Mechanization component.

The MOU was signed by DA Regional Field Office IV-A Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-designate for Operations Arnel de Mesa, PhilMech Facility Management and Field Operations Division Chief Joel Dator, Yovel East CEO and President James Amparo, and YHMPCQ1 General Manager Robert Diala. ### (Krystelle Ymari Vergara, DA-AFID)