MORE RICE-PRODUCING INVESTMENTS SOUGHT

WHILE the government is now moving to modernize the Philippine rice industry to keep up with the increasing population and effects of climate change, the Department of Agriculture (DA) should lobby on investing in major rice-producing provinces to boost production and ensure stable supply in the market, a farming expert said.

William Dar, former agriculture secretary and current president of Inanglupa Movement, Inc., said if the Duterte administration wanted to achieve rice self- sufficiency, it should also invest heavily in the country’s top 10 rice- producing provinces, to adequately feed the increasing population, and compete well with its counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), particularly Thailand and Vietnam.

To do this, he said the government should “pour sustained investments” to the agriculture sector, particularly rice industry, alongside its “Build, Build, Build” initiative.

“Government investments should be focused on the country’s top 10 riceproducing provinces that harvest an average of more than four metric tons per hectare (4 MT/ha), and the next 20 provinces,” he said.

“Much-needed funds should be poured to mechanize rice farming, and putting up of more post-harvest and milling facilities, construction of more irrigation systems, and empowering small farmers’ groups to be entrepreneurs, among other imperatives,” Dar added.

The top 30 provinces produce roughly three-fourths or 75 percent of the country’s annual palay (unhusked rice) harvest, Dar said, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In 2017, the Philippines produced a record harvest of 19.28 million metric tons (MT) of palay, 9.36 percent higher than in 2016, from 4.81 million hectares, registering a national average yield of 4MT/ha.

The country’s top 10 rice producers in 2017 and their respective harvests were: Nueva Ecija (1,884,000 MT); Isabela (1,286,000 MT); Pangasinan (1,125,000 MT); Cagayan (1,006,000 MT); Iloilo (937,000 MT); Camarines Sur (683,000 MT); Tarlac (579,000 MT); North Cotabato (500,000 MT); Leyte (481,000 MT); and Negros Occidental (475,000 MT). Together, they produced a total of 8,956,000 MT, about one-half or 46.5 percent of the country’s total palay harvest.

To further expand the country’s palay production in the coming years, the government should roll out massive promotion on the proper use of hybrid and inbred rice varieties, and water resource conservation technology and practices which in turn can increase farmers’ yields, according to Dar.

In particular, farmers should be trained on modern rice production and post-harvest technology, proper fertilization, and agri- entrepreneurship, he added.

“These and several other imperatives should be implemented within the next three to five years to enable our farmers reduce their average cost of producing palay, from the current P12.72 per kilo (kg) to at least P8/kg, and compete with Thailand’s P8.86/ kg,” said Dar.

These measures, according to Dar, should be part of the Philippine rice competitiveness program. He also suggested that government increase the respective budgets of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech), and focus on restructuring the National Food Authority (NFA).