Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija – To map out the value chain of rice in the province of Nueva Ecija and to identify the value chain processes, actors and their roles, the I-PLAN component of the Regional Project Coordination Office – Region 3 (RPCO3) spearheaded a training-workshop on the value chain analysis (VCA) of rice last January 17-19 at the Agri-Pinoy Trading Center.

The activity also aimed to identify the costs entailed in value chain processes and determine the social costs for the actors. The workshop was attended by the farmers, millers, suppliers, retailers, truckers, buyers, traders, purchasers and cooperatives in Cabanatuan, Gapan, Santa Rosa, Guimba, Muñoz and Talavera.

Experts and specialists from NEXUS Agribusiness Solutions served as the resource persons and facilitators during the training that tackled the elements of Value Chain and the value adding of commodities.

According to Value Chain Specialist Dr. Nerlita Manalili, value chain focuses on the value-added of your product that the consumer is willing to pay to enjoy that added value on your product.

“I’m looking forward that as we study the value chain of rice here in your province, we will come up with potential solutions to the issues and problems that you have encountered for the past years,” said Manalili. The specific purpose of the rice value chain analysis is to examine all the value-added steps in rice production and marketing.

As part of the presentations, Mr. Fidel Protacio, manager of Nueva Ecija Seed Growers Association, compared the net income per hectare of seed growers with common rice farmers. It showed that the total cost of production for seed growers is P80,212 with a total value of 125 bags at P1,360 amounting to P170,000. He added that the expected income for seed growers is P89,788.

On the other hand, the total cost of production for common rice farmers is P73,712 with a total value of 125 bags (x50kg x P17 NFA price) amounting to P106,250, with the expected income of P32,538.

The I-PLAN component under the Philippine Rural Development Project aims to enhance the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan through science-based tools and to harmonize regional and provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan through the formulation of the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) using VCA. (Dianne Lapuz, DA-PRDP RPCO3 InfoACE Unit)