THE AGRICULTURE department is allotting P128 million to put up four rice processing centers aimed at supporting farmers and increasing output.
In a text message yesterday, Agriculture Assistant Secretary
Dante S. Delima said the department will be spending P32 million for
each processing centers.
“We will be spending P32 million per rice processing center. This will be put up in San Francisco [in] Agusan del Sur, Sto. Niño [in] South Cotabato, Mexico [in] Pampanga and in Oriental Mindoro,” said Mr. Delima, who is concurrent National Coordinator for Rice Program.
He said the processing centers will have drying facilities to minimize “wastage during milling and to maximize the income of farmers.”
Similar facilities were put last year in cooperation with the Korea International Cooperation Agency in the provinces of Pangasinan, Iloilo, Bohol and Davao del Sur, Mr. Delima said.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said last week that the country is targeting palay production at 18.46 million metric tons (MT) this year, higher than last year’s output of 16.68 million MT.
Meanwhile, rice production in Eastern Visayas grew 2.68% last year, but still below the region’s 5% annual growth target.
Antonio G. Gerundio, Department of Agriculture (DA) regional executive director, cited a Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS) report which showed that the 2011 harvest reached 989,937 metric tons, higher than the 2010 harvest of 964,145 MT amid favorable weather conditions.
But Mr. Gerundio said the output again failed to reach the one-million-ton mark which the region had breached in 2008.
This year, the DA is targeting to harvest 1.014 million MT of palay in the region and raise the average yield per hectare to 3.51 MT from 3.37 MT in 2011.
Under the 2011-2016 regional rice industry road map, the region targets a 1.285-million-MT output and annual average yield per hectare of 4.76 MT by 2016.
“This can be easily achieved with the ongoing development of irrigation systems in Samar Island and significantly higher budget for irrigation,” Mr. Gerundio said
“The three (Samar) provinces occupy 51% of the rice area in the region but its share in terms of production is only 26%,” he added.
The National Irrigation Administration has reported that out of the P2.6-billion allocation for the region this year, P1.6 billion is intended for irrigation projects on Samar Island.
Four provinces recorded a yield increase while Southern Leyte and Biliran posted a decline of 0.58% and 6.19%, respectively. Southern Leyte harvested 93,762 MT and Biliran 66,643 MT.
Leyte, which accounts for more than half of the region’s rice output, produced 527,738 MT, or an increase of 0.92%; Samar production went up 11.46% to 138,309 MT; Eastern Samar harvested 57,083 MT, or a growth rate of 10.21%; and Northern Samar produced 106,402 MT, 8.15% higher.
To attain a better harvest, Mr. Gerundio said the DA regional office will provide local government officials with the rice industry situationer every quarter with recommended interventions.
“We will also focus on municipalities with the highest share to the provincial and regional rice output,” he said.
Other strategies include providing incentives to small farmers, increase area harvested through irrigation projects, increase cropping intensity especially in rain-fed areas with currently only one cropping a year, timely provision of the different program interventions, strengthen irrigators and farmers associations, and intensify pests and diseases surveillance. -- Louella D. Desiderio and Sarwell Q. Meniano
“We will be spending P32 million per rice processing center. This will be put up in San Francisco [in] Agusan del Sur, Sto. Niño [in] South Cotabato, Mexico [in] Pampanga and in Oriental Mindoro,” said Mr. Delima, who is concurrent National Coordinator for Rice Program.
He said the processing centers will have drying facilities to minimize “wastage during milling and to maximize the income of farmers.”
Similar facilities were put last year in cooperation with the Korea International Cooperation Agency in the provinces of Pangasinan, Iloilo, Bohol and Davao del Sur, Mr. Delima said.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said last week that the country is targeting palay production at 18.46 million metric tons (MT) this year, higher than last year’s output of 16.68 million MT.
Meanwhile, rice production in Eastern Visayas grew 2.68% last year, but still below the region’s 5% annual growth target.
Antonio G. Gerundio, Department of Agriculture (DA) regional executive director, cited a Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS) report which showed that the 2011 harvest reached 989,937 metric tons, higher than the 2010 harvest of 964,145 MT amid favorable weather conditions.
But Mr. Gerundio said the output again failed to reach the one-million-ton mark which the region had breached in 2008.
This year, the DA is targeting to harvest 1.014 million MT of palay in the region and raise the average yield per hectare to 3.51 MT from 3.37 MT in 2011.
Under the 2011-2016 regional rice industry road map, the region targets a 1.285-million-MT output and annual average yield per hectare of 4.76 MT by 2016.
“This can be easily achieved with the ongoing development of irrigation systems in Samar Island and significantly higher budget for irrigation,” Mr. Gerundio said
“The three (Samar) provinces occupy 51% of the rice area in the region but its share in terms of production is only 26%,” he added.
The National Irrigation Administration has reported that out of the P2.6-billion allocation for the region this year, P1.6 billion is intended for irrigation projects on Samar Island.
Four provinces recorded a yield increase while Southern Leyte and Biliran posted a decline of 0.58% and 6.19%, respectively. Southern Leyte harvested 93,762 MT and Biliran 66,643 MT.
Leyte, which accounts for more than half of the region’s rice output, produced 527,738 MT, or an increase of 0.92%; Samar production went up 11.46% to 138,309 MT; Eastern Samar harvested 57,083 MT, or a growth rate of 10.21%; and Northern Samar produced 106,402 MT, 8.15% higher.
To attain a better harvest, Mr. Gerundio said the DA regional office will provide local government officials with the rice industry situationer every quarter with recommended interventions.
“We will also focus on municipalities with the highest share to the provincial and regional rice output,” he said.
Other strategies include providing incentives to small farmers, increase area harvested through irrigation projects, increase cropping intensity especially in rain-fed areas with currently only one cropping a year, timely provision of the different program interventions, strengthen irrigators and farmers associations, and intensify pests and diseases surveillance. -- Louella D. Desiderio and Sarwell Q. Meniano
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