Twelve farmers from Pangasinan, Biliran, Mindoro Occidental, Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur and Nueva Ecija will be awarded the "Gintong Butil" Achievement Awards by SL Agritech Corp. "For their outstanding achievements in the production of hybrid rice."

The awards night will be held at 7 p.m. on Dec. 2, at the National Press Club (NPC) bldg. in Intramuros, Manila. Invited guest of honor and keynote speaker is Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban.

Guests invited include Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture; Rep. Benasing Macarambon, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture; Rep. Ali Dimaporo, PhilRice Executive Director Leocadio Sebastian; and former Agriculture Secretaries Arthur Yap, Cito Lorenzo and Roberto Sebastian.

Henry Lim Bon Liong, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of SL Agritech Corp., a division of Sterling Group of Companies, said the awardees will also receive cash prizes amounting to some P150,000.

Two of the awardees will receive special "Gintong Butil" Achievement Awards. They are Aida Badong, a 53-year-old lady farmer from Brgy. San Nicolas in Baao, Camarines Sur who made a record harvest of 344 cavans per hectare by planting the Agritech's SL-8H super hybrid rice seed variety.

The other awardee is Fernando Gabuyo of Nueva Ecija whose recorded harvest was 335 cavans per hectare.

Another highlight of the affair, sponsored jointly by SL Agritech Corp., GMA Rice Program and the Philippine Agricultural Journalists (PAJ), will be the launching of Agritech's bi-monthly publication, the Gintong Butil.

Lim said: "I am happy to note that more and more of our country's rice farmers now are planting hybrid rice variety which increases not only their harvest many times more but has also greatly increased their income."

Hybrid rice technology, he said, is one of the key technologies that can make the Philippines self-sufficient in rice.