Photo Release

Brown rice bike: Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda pedals a mill grain grinder known as the brown rice bike at the Senate hall in Pasay City while Sen. Pia Cayetano cheers her on Thursday, November 22, 2023. The machine, developed by the engineering department of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), aims to provide households with freshly milled brown rice while exercising. “Filipinos can buy palay (rice with husks) which would cost from P21 to P23 per kilo and grind it themselves into unpolished brown rice,” Dr. Hazel Antonio-Beltran, head of the PhilRice Development Communication explained. She told the lady senators that the brown rice bike is capable of grinding 1 kilo of palay per hour. PhilRice is celebrating Rice Awareness month this November. Also in photo is Agriculture Undersecretary for Rice Development Program Leocadio Sebastian (right). (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)