DA pushing advanced planting calendar
THE Department of Agriculture ( DA) is pushing for an advance cropping calendar among rice farmers, particularly those served by major irrigation systems in Luzon, to avoid destructive effects of typhoons.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that they are now encouraging farmers to advance by at least one to two months their cropping calendar to mitigate the impact of typhoons that usually hit the Philippines from October to November.
“We are usually hit by strong typhoons in October, so we have to set the cropping season earlier,” he said.
The DA added that the National Rice Program and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) have started the implementation of the initiative, in partnership with various irrigators associations (IAS).
The early planting schedule will be initially implemented in Central Luzon, particularly those served by the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) and the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (MARIIS).
About 190,000 hectares of irrigated farms will be covered under the early planting scheme, of which 110,000 hectares are covered by UPRIIS and the remaining 80,000 hectares served by MARIIS.
To date, UPRIIS has a total of 386 IAS under its jurisdiction, with some 82,000 farmer- members. On the other hand, MARIIS has 363 IAS with some 65,000 farmer-members.
“It is from irrigation where we can attain the biggest difference for our yield. Farmers can plant rice only once using rainwater, but we can make it two and a half times [more] if irrigation is improved,” Alcala said.
Traditionally, the country gets 60 percent of its annual palay ( unmilled rice) harvest from the main wet season cropping, while 40 percent comes from the dry season cropping.
“If we have enough water through more irrigation systems in place, it is possible to shift the trend, where we would harvest 60 percent of our total production during the dry season,” he added.
Despite strong typhoons during second semester of 2011, the country managed to harvest 16.68 million metric tons (MT) of palay, 5.8 percent more than the 15.77 million MT produced in 2010.
Increasing rice supply
This year, the DA targets to produce 18.46 million MT and more than 20 million MT by 2013, and attain 100percent sufficiency in rice, utilizing a P6.2-billion fund from the department’s budget to finance various rice initiatives.
Alcala said that besides advancing the cropping calendar, the DA is also working closely with the Department of Public Works and Highways to utilize the full potential of flood control projects and major dams in the country.
He said that the DA and NIA plans to build a series of impounding dams downstream of major dams that will serve as check dams. These will store excess water during the rainy season, and irrigate farms during the dry season.
Meanwhile, the DA will con- tinue to implement several innovations in tandem with traditional initiatives to further increase the productivity and profitability of rice farmers, and attain rice sufficiency by end of 2013.
Dante Delima, DA assistant secretary and National Rice Program coordinator, said that the program includes the establishment of community seed banks, maintenance of regional rice seed buffer stocks, conduct of annual Rice Achievers Award, and forging of partnerships with various rice in- dustry stakeholders.
The innovations will be undertaken alongside traditional initiatives like ratooning; provision of farm equipment machines to qualified farmers’ groups, IAS and local government units; construction and repair of irrigation systems; establishment of post-harvest facilities; and provision of marketing, research and extension support.
“All of these will be pursued to attain the goals and targets set under the government’s Food Staples Sufficiency Program [FSSP],” Delima said.