WHEREAS, through the positive response of the Filipino Farmers to the sustained and well coordinated Government, Program, self-sufficiency in rice has been achieved;

WHEREAS, there are clear and positive economic indicators showing that the country shall henceforth be surplus in rice;

WHEREAS, in order to spread and maximize the socio-economic benefits of the grains industry, there is need to complement production success with further development in the industry's post-harvest system which encompasses harvesting, threshing, drying, storage, milling, transportation, and other related activities;

NOW, THEREFORE, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution do hereby order and decree:

SECTION 1. That a foundation to accelerate the pursuits of grains post-production technology be established and be known as the "National Post-Harvest Institute for Research and Extension (NAPHIRE)", herein after referred to as the Institute;

SECTION 2. That the Institute shall have the following objectives:

1. To promote and establish scientific methods and techniques in grains handling, storage and processing.
2. To initiate the development of low-cost post-harvest facilities by tapping indigenous resources.
3. To design and develop processing equipment/machineries/plants necessary in promoting product/by-product utilization.
4. To conduct researches in the development of local capability in the area of support activities, such as the manufacture of sacks, moisture meters, weighing scales, graders, pest control equipment, testing instruments and the like.
5. To conduct basic and applied researches on all phases of grains post-harvest distribution and utilization.
6. To establish definitive manpower training program for effective post-harvest operations.
7. To publish and disseminate research findings and recommend along the lines connected with or related to rice post-production, distribution and utilization.

SECTION 3. That the members of the board of trustees of the Institute shall be composed of the following Officials:

The Administrator, National Grains Authority

A Representative, National Association of Rice and Corn Millers

The Chancellor, University of the Philippines at Los Baños

The President, Central Luzon State University

The Chairman, National Science Development Board

SECTION 4. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees shall be the Administrator of the National Grains Authority whose term of Office, together with the other members of the board, shall be co-terminus with their respective office terms.

SECTION 5. The site where the Institute shall be established, which thereafter shall be its main office, shall immediately be decided by the Board of Trustees, Regional and/or sub-regional research and extension offices may be established in any pert of the country as the Board of Trustees may decide subject to available resources.

SECTION 6. A medium-term program of implementation attuned with the time frame and policy guidelines of the current Five-Year Philippine Development Plan shall be prepared and submitted to the Office of the President within ninety (90) days from the date of this Decree. The organizational and staffing pattern, compensation system and funding strategy of the Institute shall be made part and parcel of the said program of implementation.

SECTION 7. To implement this Decree, the amount of P10,000,000.00 for the initial operating and capital expenditures of the Institute is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) JACOBO C. CLAVE
		Presidential Executive Assistant