he Department of Science and Technology in Central Luzon (DOST-3) has helped farmers’ groups produce and sell brown rice through its expanded implementation of the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) program.
The DOST provided each of the Greatest Manimas Farmers and Fisherfolk Association and Kapit Bisig ng Magsasaka ng Bilolo Inc. in Orion town a set of compact impeller brown rice mill (CIBRM) for commercial production of brown rice, officials said.
DOST-3 Director Julius Caesar Sicat said the farmer-beneficiaries had already undergone training for the operation and maintenance of the CIBRM.
“The CIBRM allows the farmer-beneficiaries to mill their own harvest, saving them from costly transportation as they no longer need to bring their produce to commercial rice mills usually located in town centers,” he said.
“More importantly, this will give ready access to more nutritious brown rice in the rural communities where malnutrition is a problem,” Sicat said in a statement.
He cited the importance of making brown rice available to more people, especially those with nutritional deficiencies.
“Brown rice is produced by removing only the hull of the rice grain thus, leaving a higher content of nutritionally important fibers, minerals and natural oils, making it more nutritious than polished white rice,” Sicat said.
