Mayor Isko buys Mindanao's organic rice for Manila's 150,000 seniors
AGRICULTURE • 22:15 PM Mon Sep 21, 2020
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By:
Sec Emmanuel Piñol/MinDA chair
(Photos of Mindanao's Black Organic Rice in export-quality packaging were provided by Don Bosco Multi-Purpose Cooperative while photos showing me with Mayor Isko were taken by Argie Leparto, MinDA OC)
MinDA Tienda Advance Sales!
MANILA - One month before the actual staging of the MinDA Tienda sa Manila, Mindanao's Farmers have already scored a big sales after Manila Mayor Francisco Moreno Domagoso ordered 500-metric tons of Black, Red and Brown Organic Rice for the city's estimated 150,000 senior citizens.
The advance sales of one of Mindanao's popular and iconic agricultural products is estimated to be worth P40-million, a price which Mayor Isko said is worth the health benefits it would give the senior citizens of his city.
I presented the idea of a gift pack of Organic Rice for Christmas to Mayor Isko and he immediately jumped on the idea. He immediately directed his Chief of Staff, former Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez, to include in the next supplemental budget of the city the amount intended for the purchase of the organic rice.
The Black, Red and Brown Organic Rice is among the products lined up for display during the MinDA Tienda set Oct. 23 to 25, 2020 at the Mehan Garden beside the Manila City Hall.
The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) with the support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has organized Mindanao's Organic Rice Farmers who now belong to the Mindanao Organic Rice Council (MORCO).
The production of organic rice is one of the programs being encouraged by MinDA for the region's rice farmers as prices of commercial rice were dragged down to historic low because of the unimpeded rice importation.
Mayor Isko's advance order of Organic Rice could be the single biggest sale recorded under the MinDA Tienda Program which was launched last year in Baguio City with the MinDA Fruit Festival.
I also suggested to Mayor Isko that another great gift item for his senior citizens would be Organic Vegetables and Organic Chicken, soon to be produced in the Balik Probinsya resettlement areas now being established in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte and Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte.
Also included in the list of products from Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Region to be displayed during the 3-day MinDA Tienda are fruits like Durian, Pomelo, Mangosteen, Lanzones and Marang, which are all in season in Mindanao, and fish and marine products like Live Lapulapu and whole Tuna.
Vegetables and processed and canned fish products which also be sold, including handwoven fabrics from Mindanao's Muslim and Indigenous communities.