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| Photo from Sec. Manny Pinol's FB Page (ctto) |
Right on track – this is what Department of Agriculture
Secretary Manny Pinol said on his report, pertaining to the records of rice
harvest for the 2017.
In a post on his Facebook page, he said that the country is
about to set a record of about 19.4-million metric tons of rice for this year,
thus, bringing the country closer to its target of 20 million metric tons.
He said that 20 million metric tons of rice is needed to be
able to feed the whole country without depending on importation of rice from
other countries.
The secretary also pointed out that good harvest for 2017
was aided by the favorable climate and the intensified campaign for the quality
seeds and modern technology.
With these records, the Philippines is only short of about 600,000
metric tons of rice to reach its long-dreamed target.
Check out the post from DA Secretary below;
RECORD PH RICE HARVEST OF 19.4-MILLION MT IN 2017
By Manny Piñol
Aided by favorable climate and the intensified campaign for
the use of outstanding seeds and modern technology, the country will see a
record rice harvest of about 19.4-million metric tons for 2017, bringing it
closer to the long dreamed sufficiency.
The record harvest means that the Philippines will just be
short of 600,000 metric tons to reach the targeted 20-million metric tons
needed to be able to feed the whole country without depending on rice
importation.
The Philippines during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos
was rice sufficient for a brief period of time but this was not sustained.
Until recently, the country imported about 1.8-million
metric tons of rice but the shortage fell to only 500,000 metric tons in the
administration of Pres. Rody Duterte.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), in its report on
the 3rd Quarter performance of the Agriculture Sector, said that rice
production grew by 14.7%.
Reports from the DA Regional Offices indicate that the 4th
Quarter harvest will even be better than the 3rd Quarter because of favorable
climate with beneficial typhoons bringing in needed rains.
The rains have allowed rain-fed rice areas, which
traditionally plant rice only once a year, to have a second cropping.
The improved performance of the rice sector is also
attributed to the increasing openness of farmers to the use of modern
technology, including hybrid seeds and mechanization.
The use of hybrid seeds developed by both private agricultural
companies and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) boosted rice productivity.
Nueva Ecija rice farmers using hybrid seeds post harvests of
10-metric tons or even better, higher than the national average of 4.38-metric
tons per hectare per harvest.
Of the 4.9-million hectares harvested area for rice, only
360,000 hectares are planted to hybrid seeds.
The DA has set a target of 1-million hectares to be planted
to hybrid seeds by 2020 with a modest production goal of 6-metric tons per
hectare.
This is expected to result in an additional annual
production of 4-million metric tons at two harvests a year which would be over
and beyond the 600,000 metric ton deficit.
The hybridization program of the Agriculture Department is
not without controversies with a few groups claiming that Hybrid Seeds are GMOs
and that officials of the Department are making money by promoting Hybid Seeds.
In spite of explanations that Hybrid Rice seeds are simply
results of crossbreeding of two rice varieties with outstanding qualities and
that thr Department encourages farmers to choose their hybrid seeds - and there
is a dozen or more public and private hybrids to choose from - these groups
have continued to discredit the program.
The Department of Agriculture, however, will not be deterred
and will pursue the program with a clear conscience guided by the vision of
President Rody Duterte to provide Available and Affordable Food for the
Filipinos.
Source: Manny Pinol FB
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