Bansot Rice, Bansot Income

I have already heard this info when we went to Sta. Maria, a barangay in Licab, Nueva Ecija. Lots of farmers are concerned about a certain hybrid of rice which grow and bear premature fruits, however, the rice stalks produce only a small amount of grains.

I have learned that this problem also exists in the whole of Nueva Ecija, thus, Congressman Edno Joson has filed a resolution in order for the House of Representatives to investage on any irregularities concerning this hybrid rice.

Interestingly, this BANSOT rice is a program of the Department of Agriculture's Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA).

Philstar.com gives this report:

Have you heard of GMA “bansot” rice?

The House committee on agriculture wants to know what it is, and the panel is launching an investigation.

Resolution 966, authored by Nueva Ecija Rep. Edno Joson, prompted the inquiry.
Joson said he has been receiving complaints from hundreds of farmers in his province about what they described as their “bansot” or undersized rice crops.

He said the problems began when farmers started using the hybrid seed SL-8, which the Department of Agriculture (DA) is distributing under its Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) program.

Among the problems farmers encountered with SL-8 seeds are premature flowering and poor growth of their palay, he said.

“Because of these, our farmers are forced to uproot the hybrid plants for replanting. They thus spend more on seeds, which drives them deeper into debt,” he added.

For the complete news report, click here.

Punto! Central Luzon, a local online news site, also gives another account of the hybrid rice problem here.


Let us hope that concerned authorities will do a thorough investigation in order to resolve this issue and provide a meaningful solution. We all know that rice planting has since been the primary means of income in Licab, so clearly, this must be immediately resolved.