LOOK | The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Masbate, headed by OIC-PARPO II Eleanor F. Torres, joined farmers and partner agencies on July 14, 2026 for the blessing and inauguration of the new Rice Kropek Processing Facility in Cayabon, Milagros.

The event brought together farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, along with representatives from PhilRice, the BPI Foundation, LGU-Milagros, DTI, DOST, and DA.

The DAR Masbate’s participation signals strong support for the RiceBIS x Farm-to-Table project—a joint initiative of DA-PhilRice Bicol and BPIF in collaboration with the Baclay Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative and other farmers’ groups in Milagros.

The project helps farmers boost productivity, run more sustainable agri-enterprises, reach bigger markets, and earn additional income through strengthened networking and partnership-building.

The PhilRice’s mission to elevate farmers to agri-entrepreneurs aligns with the DAR’s own Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Sustainability Program (ARBDSP), which develops Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) into “Agripreneurs”—farmers who, in the words of Mayor Natividad Isabel R. Magbalon during the program, are not just farmers who own businesses but farmers who earn big time.