As Prices Hit P70/kilo! Mindanao Tribal Communities Revisit Upland Rice Farming

As the prices of commercial rice top P70 per kilo, the Tribal Communities of Mindanao will revisit the traditional rice farming in the upland areas to ensure that poor families will be able to produce their own food.
On Monday, Feb. 11, I will join the leaders of a Tribal Community in Malaybalay, Bukidnon in launching the first-ever Upland Rice Farming Program in the vast Ancestral Domain areas using modern hybrid rice seeds and technology.
The introduction of modern rice technology in traditional upland rice farming areas is part of the program which I designed called “Kalahating Ektarya Bawat Pamilya (KEBP).”
The program is a hunger-mitigation initiative which I designed to help rural families survive the rice crisis as prices soar to levels beyond the reach of poor rural families and even made worse by the impending El Niño.
The KEBP Program aims to support upland farming families, especially in the Ancestral Domain Areas, in planting a high-yielding hybrid rice variety, Tatag TH82, which could be planted in drylands even without irrigation.
Department of Agriculture Northern Mindanao Director Carlene Collado will lead the launching of the Pilot Farm in the Tribal Area of the Bukidnon Tagoloanon Mulahay Ha Kabukalagan Agriculture Cooperative (BUKTAMACO) in Malaybalay.
BUKTAMACO leader Burt Estrada, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said the initial area intended for the Upland Rice Program is about 300-hectares.
With the DA’s support, the Kalahating Ektarya Bawat Pamilya (KEBP) Rice Production Program in the Upland Farming areas, aims to cover 500,000 hectares nationwide over the next 4 years.
Through the KEBP, tribal farmers in the highlands will be taught how to plant a modern hybrid rice variety, TH82 Matatag, which could produce up to 8 metric tons even without irrigation.
The Tatag TH82 had undergone trials when I was Agriculture Secretary and later as MinDA Chairman and showed that it could yield 4 to 7 metric tons in un-irrigated areas.
The KEBP Program, which is part of my Food Self-Sufficiency Advocacy, is supported by Seedworks Phils., which distributes the Tatag TH82 Hybrid Seeds, and other agencies and companies like DA-PhilRice Midsayap, AMO Foliar Fertilizer, Green Valley Machineries, Better Yield Agri, and organic fertilizer producers.
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