Samar Rising!

FROM ‘HOWLING WILDERNESS’

TO FIELDS OF GOLDEN GRAINS

By Manny Piñol

Mapanas, Northern Samar – An estimated 100,000-hectares of new farms which will use modern technology and mechanizataion will be opened in the three provinces of the Island of Samar with the launching by the Department of Agriculture yesterday of the Samar Rice Development Program (SRDP).

The SRDP, which will be the first major beneficiary of the Rice Tariffication Program with an estimated P10-B fund for 2019, aims to introduce new rice farming technology and equipment to develop 100,000 hectares to contribute to a bigger national rice production and the reduction of poverty in the three provinces of Northern Samar, Eastern Samar and Western Samar.

From the current average of 2-metric tons per hectare average yield in the island, the SRDP targets an average production of 6-metric tons by introducing high yielding rice varieties developed by PhilRice and commercial hybrid seeds and solar irrigation systems in the vast rainfed areas of the island.

By 2020, the SRDP is expected to contribute an estimated 1.2-million metric tons of paddy rice to the national production which would make Samar Island as one of the major rice production areas of the country.

PhilRice Executive Director Dr. Sailila Abdula said Samar Island has the potential of even increasing its rice areas from the original target of just 100,000 because of the availability of water for irrigation from the big rivers flowing through an estimated 500,000-hectares of under-utilized fertile agricultural lands.

The launching of the SRDP was made with the opening of a 3-hectare demonstration farm in Catubig town and another three hectares in Mapanas, a town facing the Pacific Ocean which was participated in by officials of the DA National and Regional Offices, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council and other support agencies.

Also present during the two-town swing of the “Biyaheng Bukid” team yesterday were officials of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and Samar officials led by Cong. Edwin Ong, Mayor Galahad Vicencio of Catubig Palapag Mayor Manuel Aoyang and Mayor Tom Tejano of Mapanas.

Also present were the owners of the Renucci Rice Processing Complex in Alang-alang, Leyte, Patrick and Rachell Renucci who have expressed interest in participating in the program in the towns south of the island.

The couple, who invested over P1-B in the rice processing complex, currently helps farmers in Leyte by providing them with farm support to produce more and also buys the produce of the farmers at a very fair price.

By January next year, a private company tapped by the DA will develop a 200-hectare rice seed production area in Catubig to supply the seeds requirements of the island using the PhilRice recommended varieties RC-300 and RC-358 which have identified as the adaptable varieties in the island.

Also next month, the DA will organize the Project Management Office which will handle and monitor the implementation of the SRDP.

The SRDP PMO will be chaired by the DA Secretary with the heads of the other support agencies as members.

By the end of the term of President Rody Duterte, Samar Island, which was once called by an American General as a “Howling Wilderness,” is expected to become a Field of Golden Grains with the farmers enjoying a better life and poverty greatly reduced.

During the launching of the SRDP in Catubig yesterday, I made a promise to the people of Samar that I will be personally involved in the development of the island into a major agricultural production area in the country.

(Photos by Alan Jay Jacalan, Anacleto Degorio and DA-AFID Biyaheng Bukid team.)