Philippines Continues Making Headway in Rice Production

The Department of Agriculture will continue to deliver the necessary services and interventions for the benefit of Filipino farmers and fisher folks as the Aquino administration’s leadership comes into a full circle this year.

This was announced by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala during a media briefing held on the first week of January, in Quezon City.

“Between now and 2017, the government will establish rural infrastructures and other investments needed in lowering production costs and enabling competitiveness,” he said.

To reduce production cost, bolster farm efficiency as well as ensure timeliness of farm operations, DA implemented a rice mechanization program wherein farmers’ organizations can avail of farm machines (such as combine harvesters) in a counterpart scheme, with 85% of the cost shouldered by the government and the remaining 15% to be paid by the farmers’ group.

Alcala stressed that the program enabled the country to achieve the highest rice harvest in history at 18.4 million metric tons by the end of 2013. He adds that the continuing headway in rice production was driven by other assistance to farmers including the provision of high-quality seeds, fertilizers, and the use of other integrated crop management practices.

The Philippine Statistics Authority report states that the Philippine agriculture managed to grow by 9.55 percent in terms of value and by 0.33 percent in terms of volume for the first nine months of 2014, all despite considerable damage caused by successive typhoons to the industry.

“Other countries in Asia, specifically Korean, is happy that the Philippines achieved the record harvest and they are asking us to share the things that we have done,” he added.

When Alcala visited South Korea in 2014, the Korean government was impressed that Filipino farmers were able to increase rice production in a matter of three years, when it took them six years even with all of their government’s interventions.

“We are again leaving footprints in the agri sector,” he said. The Secretary added that the country was able to sustain the increase.

In addition, local farmers have continued exporting superior quality rice such as black rice, red rice, jasponica rice of Doña Maria and SL Agritech, organic rice from Bicol and Mindanao.

“As a matter of fact, we are increasing the volume of our rice exports,” Alcala said.

But he reiterated that DA’s focus is not only to produce but also to lower down production cost which can be done through investments in irrigation, postharvest facilities, and farmers’ access to credit.

As postharvest loss continue to affect farmers’ income, DA has been actively establishing rice processing centers in strategic areas nationwide to enable recovery rates from 65-68%,” said Alcala.

Meanwhile, the agency, alongside the LandBank of the Philippines, has been successfully implementing the Sikat Saka Program, a credit facility which provides eligible farmer P47,000 per hectare of land when planting certified seeds, and P52,000 per hectare for a farmer planting hybrid seeds. The program covers a maximum of five hectares.

Source: www.da.gov.ph