In 2020, 2021 and 2022, EPIC’s Rice Project  – including Baja Verapaz: Sustainable Agriculture, APRODEHNI, “Laudato Si” Organic Agricultural Program, and La Semilla del Progreso –  experimented with this indigenous rice, planting research plots in 4 countries.  The rice had been discovered in a remote village in Honduras, called Tempisque, where it was being grown. It was planted on hillsides and not in rice paddies. Local farmers said it was strong and resilient. Now the results of the research plots have shown:

1. Tempisque Rice can be produced organically with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
2.  Tempisque Rice is significantly more tolerant than corn to weather extremes such as excessive rain or hurricanes. It is also somewhat drought tolerant – up to 2 weeks without rain does not reduce harvests. 

Women say Tempisque Rice tastes good, just like the rice they have been buying for special meals.

Now is the time to expand the planting of Tempisque Rice. This is called “scaling up”. EPIC’s programs will give 3 to 6 pounds of Tempisque rice seed to farmers who have never planted it and desire to try this rice. The farmer must commit to weighing the rice harvested and reporting this information back to the program.

Central America and Mexico are very vulnerable to extremes of weather due to climate change. For farmers who must grow most of the food their families will eat, adding this crop to those presently being planted will increase the family’s food security. When other crops are wiped out by hurricanes or periods without rain, this seed will enable farmers to still harvest food. Another important advantage is that farmers do not need to buy expensive chemical fertilizers or pesticides.