The country’s rice farmers harvested 210,668 metric tons more during the First Quarter of 2017 than they did during the same period in 2016, according to the satellite and ground validated data provided by the Philippine Rice Information System (PRiSM).
PhilRice Executive Director Dr. Sailila Abdula also confirmed that for the first time in the history of rice farming, the country’s farmers posted a 4.15-metric ton average yield per hectare per harvest, breaking the previous average of only 3.9MT per hectare.
According to the PRISM satellite data which were validated on the ground, a total of 4,142,960 metric tons was harvested from an area of 997,687 hectares during the First Quarter of 2017 compared to only 3,932,292 metric tons from a bigger area of 1,081,096 hectares during the same period in 2016.
The PRiSM satellite-generated data validated my earlier projection based on ocular appreciation that the country will enjoy a bumper harvest this planting season.
I made the projection following the travels I made all over the country over the last few weeks where I saw vast fields of healthy growing rice.
The higher rice production for the First Quarter of 2017 was achieved even with the destruction brought by Typhoon Nina in the Bicol Region which harvested only 159,611 metric tons from an area of 44,336 out of the regional rice area of 101,000 with a low average yield of 3.6 metric tons per hectare.
The highest average yield per region at 4.84 metric tons per hectare was recorded in Central Luzon composed of the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Aurora, Zambales and Bataan.
The higher average yield in the Central Luzon area is credited mainly to the increasing number of farmers who are using hybrid rice seeds.
In Nueva Ecija where almost 50% of the farmers are already using hybrid rice seeds, the average yield per hectare is 6.09 metric tons.
The second highest average yield per hectare was recorded in the Ilocos Region with 4.71 metric tons followed by the Davao Region with 4.55 metric tons, Cagayan Valley Region with 4.45MT, Northern Mindanao with 4.39MT, the Cordillera Autonomous Region with 4.10MT and Zamboanga Peninsula with 4.07MT.
All the other regions failed to breach the 4-MT average yield per hectare, including Western Visayas which includes Iloilo Province where the national record yield of 16-MT per hectare was posted by a farmer in Pototan town who used hybrid rice seeds.
The hybrid rice seeds utilisation among rice farmers in Western Visayas is only 10%.
The lowest average yield per hectare for the First Quarter of 2017 was in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with only 2.74 metric tons.
Dr. Abdula said that barring any major climatic disturbances, the country’s rice sector may yet post a higher harvest in the second quarter of the Dry Season planting.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is promoting the nationwide use of Hybrid Rice Seeds which have been proven to produce double the production average of inbred rice seeds.
The National Hybrid Rice Seeds program, along with the provision of small-scale irrigation systems, mechanisation and the availability of easy credit and financing for the farmers, is expected to boost the country’s rice production and achieve rice sufficiency by 2020.
(Photos taken by the DA-AFID team during the recent Rice Derby held in M’lang, North Cotabato show the difference in yield between the Hybrid Rice Seeds and ordinary seeds. The next rice derby will be held in Samar Island.)
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