Biyaheng Bukid assessment COUNTRY’S RICE SUFFICIENCY: TOUGH BUT DOABLE MISSION

By Manny Piñol

There are still a few provinces and islands to visit to complete the nation-wide journey, Biyaheng Bukid, but this early I could already confidently say that President Rody Duterte’s commitment to make the country rice sufficient is achievable.

As I travelled by land all over the country, except the trip to Bohol and Zamboanga City when I took a fast craft and a plane, respectively, I saw the vast untapped potentials of the country in food production.

The largely neglected islands of Leyte, Samar and Mindoro and the almost limitless plains of Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Isabela and Cagayan Valley are prospective production areas.

Most of all the island of Mindanao, with its rich soil and ideal climate, is the most exciting area for rice production.

Yes, the country could achieve rice sufficiency.

I will not set a time-table but all that I can say is that President Duterte’s commitment that we will have enough rice to feed the nation will be fulfilled and realised.

There are, however, fundamental things which must be done to achieve this.

1. The Department of Agriculture must focus on its basic mandate which is food production and corruption must stop. Funds and resources must be concentrated on the task of producing food both from land and the sea. All other non-essential projects must be shelved in favour of undertakings which contribute directly to food production and greater income for the farmers and the fisherfolk.

2. For rice production to increase, an inventory and review of the capacity of irrigation systems to provide water should be conducted. There is a huge discrepancy between the rated capacity of the irrigation systems and the actual area served. Existing irrigation projects must be rehabilitated or repaired to enable these to hit the rated capacity. There could never be a successful rice production program if there is no sufficient water. Remember, Food Grows Where Water Flows.

3. Government money must not be wasted on the mega-irrigation projects which take 10 to 15 years before these are completed, if at all, and focus must now be on cost-effective and environment-friendly small communal irrigation and small water impounding projects. In areas where the water level is shallow, solar-powered or gas-powered water pumps could be used. So many of these huge irrigation projects costing government billions of pesos in foreign loans are not operational until today, some of them already 20-years in the making.

4. Rice farmers, along with other grains farmers and fisherfolk, should be given the all-out support, especially since they are coming from a 7-month-long drought. I am proposing an additional P30-billion calamity assistance to the rice and corn farmers and the fisherfolk to provide them with the needed inputs, like seeds, fertilisers and others in the case of the rice and corn farmers. After this “final push,” farmers must be given easy access to financing, seeds, fertilisers and farm inputs.

5. An additional 1-million hectares for rice production expansion must be identified and the necessary infrastructure must be provided which would make these productive within one year after these are opened up.

6. Most of all, rice farming must be mechanised whenever and wherever this is applicable. Every rice key production area must be provided with tractors, mechanical rice planters and harvesters. If possible rice processing centers must be established at the farm level to ensure that post harvest losses are minimised.

Why am I so confident that the country could achieve rice sufficiency if the above-cited to-do-list is accomplished?

First, the national shortfall for rice supply is projected to be 1.8-million metric tons this year.

The country has about 5.4-million hectares of rice farms, two-thirds of which is irrigated.

The average total yield per hectare is 4 metric tons per harvest which is very low mainly because of the lack of water, certified seeds, fertilisers, inputs and poor planting and harvest facilities.

There are areas like Nueva Ecija where the average if 5.6-metric tons per hectare per harvest.

Therefore, if the needed water, good seeds, fertiliser, inputs and mechanised equipment are provided and the average yield is increased to 5-metric tons, that would already be an additional 10-million metric tons of palay which when milled with a recovery of 65% would give the country an additional rice supply of 6.5-million metric tons.

That production is already way beyond the shortfall which is only 1.8-million metric tons per year.

Now, add to that the target expansion area of 1-million hectares and you can just imagine how much surplus would the country have if these measures are implemented.

These figures are not results of guesswork but a careful analysis of the potentials of the country in rice production.

The only things required to accomplish this is focus and a stop to corruption.

There is no definite timetable because the realisation of this mission would depend on how fast we are able to implement the interventions I have recommended above.

I am confident that with an incorruptible President leading this country who is known for his bullheadedness in pursuing his vision and mission, the Philippines will attain rice sufficiency during the Duterte Presidency.

(Photos of rice harvester and planter downloaded from Google. Other photos taken by John Pagaduan.)