FAO is partnering with the Bureau of Plant Industries (BPI) to study and register traditional rice and other crops varieties in Ifugao and South Cotabato under the Plant Variety Protect Act (PVPA).

Rice panicles from traditional rice harvesting in Ifugao. Upon harvesting, these rice panicles are bundled and stored in houses or traditional seed storage.

Among the activities of the Agrobiodiversity Project is to train farmer beneficiaries on seed collection as part of in-situ or onsite conservation. FAO is partnering with PhilRice for the ex-situ, or offsite, conservation of the traditional seed varieties collected from the project site.

A woman farmer from Hungduan, Ifugao shows her heirloom rice field to the FAO Agrobiodiversity Project team. The project aims to help farmers in enhancing and sustaining agrobiodiversity, including traditional rice varieties.