Conservation of Sarangani’s indigenous rice varieties pushed

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The provincial government of Sarangani and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) are pushing for the conservation of various traditional rice varieties that that have thrived for centuries in the province’s upland areas.

Celito Terando, program manager of Sarangani’s Sulong Tribu program, said Thursday the local government has launched a joint research with PhilRice to properly document over a hundred upland rice varieties that were grown by the area’s indigenous tribes.

Terando said PhilRice personnel are currently visiting parts of the province’s seven municipalities to specifically conduct an inventory through scientific means of the area’s existing traditional rice varieties.

Dubbed “Conservation of Sarangani Traditional Rice Germplasm,” Terando said the initiative focuses on the “identification, collection and preservation” of the province’s traditional rice varieties.

“Our goal is to set aside seed samples, especially of the premium or special varieties, and eventually reproduce them to ensure that they will be preserved for our future generations,” he said in an interview.

Terando said at least 107 upland rice varieties were listed to have been cultivated by the province’s tribal communities.

Among the popular upland rice varieties in the area are Malgas, Lagfisan, Moradu, Masipag, Dinorado and Sampang.

Terando said the scientific research is needed as there are still a number of varieties that are not included in the list.

They also need to establish the areas where the rice varieties have grown well and whether they were cultivated by the Blaans, Tbolis, Tagakaulos or other minority groups, he said.

As part of the conservation process, Terando said the collected seed samples will be placed in a seed bank that will be established later on by the provincial government.

“There are actually some varieties that are starting to vanish, and we want to save them,” he added. (PNA)