South Korea funds $13-M rice processing center in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - The South Korean government has vowed to help the Philippines attain self-sufficiency in rice as officials opened a $13-million rice processing center in Iloilo.

In his speech at the launch of the Korean government-funded Rice Processing Center (RPC) in Pototan, Iloilo, Korean Amb. Lee Hye Min reaffirmed his country’s commitment in helping the Philippines achieve rice self-sufficiency.

Lee noted the Philippines played a significant role in promoting rice self-sufficiency in Korea some 50 years ago.

The RPC project was made possible through a grant from the Korean government. Its components include the building construction, provision of equipment, training of Filipinos in Korea, and dispatch of Korean experts to the Philippines.

Lee noted that the rice processing center project is a way of thanking the Philippines not just for siding with South Korea during the Korean War, but also for transforming the Asian powerhouse from a net importer to self-sufficient producer.

“Our partnership on rice research, production and capacity-building has come a long way. In the 1960s, with the collaboration of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), we produced the Tongil palay, a high-yielding, high quality rice variety, which transformed Korea in the 1970s from a rice importer to a self-sufficient producer,” he said. IRRI is a research institute headquartered at the Los Baños campus of the University of the Philippines.

Since then, Korea has gained a lot of knowledge on rice production and processing and it wants to share this to the Philippines through the RPC project, Lee said.

“Back in 2006, the Korean government, through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), established the Korea-Philippines Modern Integrated RPC in Baler, Aurora to produce high-quality rice and reduce losses. RPC Aurora helped reduce post-harvest losses from 15 percent to eight percent as targeted by the Department of Agriculture. Inspired by this success, the Philippine and Korean governments agreed to replicate this model all over the country. Four more RPCs will be constructed in the major rice-producing provinces of Pangasinan, Bohol, Davao del Sur, and here in the beautiful province of Iloilo,” Lee added.