Nueva Ecija – Rice Bowl and Milk Capital of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA

By Eugene Alvin Villar (seav) – English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=770308

Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is Palayan City. Nueva Ecija borders, from the south clockwise, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, and Aurora.

Major Industries

Agriculture is the main industry of the people because of its naturally rich soil. Lowland crops such as rice, corn, onions, vegetables and sugarcane are produced in great quantities and Nueva Ecija is widely referred to as the Rice Bowl of the country. Agriculture has played a vital role in molding the culture of the people. The typical Novo Ecijano family is tightly knit and is the basic working unit on the farm.

Photo from: blogs.inquirer.net

Nueva Ecija is one of the top producers of agricultural products in the country. Its principal crops is mainly rice but corn and onion are also produced in quantity. The province is often referred to as the “Rice Granary of the Philippines.” Other major crops are onion, mango, calamansi (calamondin orange), banana, garlic, and vegetables. The town of Bongabon at the eastern part of the province at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountains and its neighboring Laur and Rizal are the major producers of onion and garlic. Bongabon is called the “onion capital of the country”. A sunflower farm is also housed inside the Central Luzon State University campus in Science City of Muñoz.

Education is very well established as a major industry in the province. The leading educational institutions are the Central Luzon State University in Science City of Munoz and Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology; Wesleyan University-Philippines, the only internationally accredited school in Central Luzon; College of the Immaculate Conception; La Fortuna College and Araullo University in Cabanatuan City. There are 18 tertiary level institutions in Cabanatuan City alone.

Photo from: libotero.com

Health services is also a notable industry and a number of hospitals cater to patients from within Nueva Ecija and some coming from neighboring provinces. There are also a number of schools of nursing and midwifery, mostly in Cabanatuan City.

There are poultry farms in a number of towns, most notably, the Lorenzo poultry farms in San Isidro which is one of the largest in the country. Duck raising and egg production is also an important livelihood. Fishponds are unevenly distributed throughout the province but the largest concentrations are in San Antonio, Santa Rosa, and Cuyapo.

Photo from: agnet.org

Fabrication of tricycle “sidecars” is widespread in the province, notably in Santa Rosa, where prices are as low as PhP 7,000 which is practically the cheapest in the country.

Several areas have mineral deposits. Copper and manganese have been found in General Tinio, Carranglan, and Pantabangan. The upper reaches of Carranglan and Palayan City are said to contain gold.

In June 2008, it has also received the title: “Milk Capital of the Philippines” due to the reason that Nueva Ecija gathers more milk from both cows and carabaos or water buffaloes than any other place in the Philippines. The Philippine Carabao Center is located in CLSU compound in Science City of Munoz.

Photo from: blogs.inquirer.net