Kidapawan City – The Province of North Cotabato and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) will launch next week a program aimed at producing additional rice supply to avert an expected shortage of the staple food during the lean months.
North Cotabato Governor Nancy A. Catamco during a coordination meeting in the Governor’s Office today welcomed my proposal for the implementation of the “Quick Turn-Around” Plan for Rice Production in her province which will later be cascaded in other provinces of Mindanao.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary for the BARMM Dr. Sailila Abdula attended the meeting representing the PhilRice based in Midsayap, Cotabato.
North Cotabato is ranked No. 8 among the Top 10 Rice Producing Provinces of the Philippines posting a production of 500,000-Metric in 2017 when the country posted its highest production in history of 19.28-Million Metric Tons.
The “Quick Turn-Around Plan” for the Rice Industry of Mindanao was crafted n view of the projected tight supply of rice in the country resulting from the announced intentions of major exporting countries to stop or limit their exports as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Mindanao Development Authority, in coordination with the Local Government Units, will implement the “Quick Turn-Around Plan” for the Rice Industry in Mindanao with the expected support from the Department of Agriculture and the National Irrigation Administration.
The Quick Turn-Around Plan aims to produce additional rice before the onset of the “lean months” which start July and stretches up to October to avert a feared shortfall in rice supply in Mindanao.
The “Quick Turn-Around Plan” involves the following:
1. A Ratooning Program for newly-harvested rice fields to be able to have a second harvest. While the estimated harvest in the Ratooning Program could only be 2-metric tons per hectare, it will allow harvest in two months thus filling part of the requirements during the “Off-Season.”
2. An Early Planting Program using High Yielding Hybrid or Inbred Rice Seeds in areas covered by the Big, Small and Communal Irrigation Service Areas.
3. Expanded Upland Rice and Rain-Fed Farming Areas using a new hybrid rice variety, TH 82, which could be sown in dry field without the need for irrigation water.
This new hybrid rice variety has been field-tested by the Department of Agriculture as early as 2018 and has submitted yield records of between 8 to 10 metric tons.
The success of the program, however, would be dependent on the support of both the DA and NIA.
In separate letters I sent today to Sec. William Dar of the DA and Sec. Karlo Alexis Nograles, Chairman of the National Irrigation Administration, I asked for the following support:
1. From DA: Early release of the Inbred Rice Seeds under the RCEP and additional financial support for the LGUs participating in the program like Hybrid Seeds and Fertilizer.
2. From NIA: The early release of irrigation water in systems where water is still available and to defer any maintenance and repair works for the next season.
The “Quick Turn-Around Plan” for the Rice Industry will be replicated in other rice producing provinces of Mindanao targeting an area of 100,000 hectares for the Ratooning Program and 200,000 hectares for the irrigated and upland areas.
The LGUs will be in the forefront of the program and they are expected to use their Calamity Funds to fund the Quick Turn-Around Plan.
(First two photos show the TH 82 Dry Seeding Hybrid which will be adopted by North Cotabato; photos of the meeting between MinDA headed by Sec. Piñol and Cotabato LGU under Gov. Catamco were taken by MinDA’s Roselyn Parillo; graph showing top rice producing provinces downloaded from BusinessWorld website)
More Stories
Trump Presidency Boon To Philippine Agriculture
Mindanao Fruit Fest Scheduled Sept. 2025
DA, MinDA, LGU! MinDA Targets Tribal Areas For Highland Rice Farming