Oriental Mindoro received the Most Outstanding Province award for Luzon in the large-scale category during the National Assembly of Provincial Agriculture Offices on Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) implementation Friday, despite facing production decline in 2024.

The province was recognized alongside Bohol (Visayas) and Agusan del Sur (Mindanao) during the awards ceremony for the 2024 wet and 2025 dry seasons.

Provincial implementers were honored across small, medium and large-scale categories by island grouping.

Oriental Mindoro’s total rice production for 2024 was recorded at 582,860 metric tons, equivalent to 6.5 million bags of milled rice valued at P14.3 billion from 113,941 hectares of harvestable area, with productivity averaging 5.12 metric tons per hectare.

However, the province experienced production decreases of 3.3 percent in the July-December period and 7.6 percent in the April-June quarter compared to the previous year.

The award recognized provinces for “competent and strategic leadership” in reaching seed delivery and distribution targets, citing their role in advancing shared goals of improving rice farmer competitiveness and income.

The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund allocates P10 billion annually to four component programs: mechanization (P5 billion), seeds (P3 billion), extension (P1 billion), and credit (P1 billion).