By Manny Piñol
Tawitawi, the country’s southernmost province and backdoor, is aiming for rice self-sufficiency and targets to develop 6,000 hectares of new rice farmlands to feed a population of about 100,000.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday pledged to deliver before the next planting season five large tractors of 100-horsepower, five 45-hp tractors, two mechanised transplanters, two mechanised harvesters, mechanical dryers, storage facilities and a rice processing center.
Tawitawi Governor Rashidin Matba, who met with DA officials on Monday along with vice governor Tati Ahaja, Bongao Mayor Jimuel Que, Turtle Islands Mayor Benie Oliveros, board members and other local officials, said that the province does not like to go through another rice supply crisis which they suffered last year when Malaysia closed its borders with the Philippines.
The province relies largely on smuggled rice believed to be coming from Vietnam which is shipped through Malaysia and brought to the provinces of Tawitawi, Sulu, Basilan and even Zamboanga Peninsula.
For a time, Gov. Matba said smuggled rice was sold at P750 per 25-kilo bag, or P30 per kilo which is lower than the commercial rice sold in the market.
The people of the province are also relatively well-off compared to those in the other provinces.
Tawitawi has the lowest poverty incidence in the Bangsamoro Area with a poverty incidence of only 20.8% compared to Lanao del Sur’s 74.3%.
The low price resulted in the province relying mainly on smuggled rice instead of developing their rice industry.
In fact, up until today less than 200 hectares are planted to rice and more of these are in Bongao, Languyan and Mapun.
On Monday, however, the provincial leaders said it was time for the province to develop its own rice industry and the DA pledged to support the move.
Initially, 20 provincial agriculture technicians and farmer leaders will be sent to the Philrice Center in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija next week to undergo training in modern rice farming technology.
Upon their return to the province, the farm implements committed by the DA along with the seeds and the needed fertilisers will be delivered.
Solar-powered irrigation projects will also be established in the rice production areas of the province which has very few rivers to supply irrigation water to rice farms.
Gov. Matba said the province is targeting 6,000 hectares to be developed as rice production areas which is expected to produce more than enough for the needs of the province where people also have cassava as their second most important staple food.
When the whole 6,000-hectare is developed and productive, Tawitawi hopes to reverse its fortune, from a net importer of smuggled rice to an exporter of high quality rice to neighbouring Malaysia.
(First two photos show the rice farm of former MNLF Commander Malik Molok in Bongao, the native cassava variety which is another source of staple for the province and Tawitawi officials led by Gov. Matba, Vice Gov. Ahaja, Bongao Mayor Que and Turtle Islands Mayor Oliveros. Photos by Engr. Nicyl Barrete)
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