Photo by Ace Alegre / Bulatlat
Bulatlat.com

An old farmer in Kadaklan village, in the heart of Barlig, Mountain Province (about 13 hours ride north of Manila) arranges his rice harvest. He is preparing for the next planting season. The seeds he plants on his payao (rice paddy) are of the native highland variety, which is used less and less these days as government increasingly promotes high-yielding and genetically-modified varieties developed by agri-business multinationals, with not a little help from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The man is one of those farmers who still value the old reliable varieties.

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