Eastern Visayas eyes rice self sufficiency in 2019

TACLOBAN CITY, Sept. 19 (PNA) –- The Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office here is optimistic to attain 100 percent rice self-sufficiency in Eastern Visayas in 2019 as the national government will step up support for staple food production in the next five planting seasons.

Currently, the region is only 94 percent self sufficient in rice, pulled down by low output in three Samar provinces, according to DA Regional Executive Director Wilson Cerbito.

While Leyte Island is 100 percent sufficient in staple food, Samar Island only reached 68 percent to 70 percent rice sufficiency.

“I’m confident that by 2019, we will reach that one million metric tons production given the intervention in the next five cropping period,” Cerbito said.

Based on forecast, the region is eyeing 962,712 metric tons production (mt) this year, up than the 955,709 mt harvest last year.

The DA regional chief said the government will intensify support to rice cultivation through Rice Productivity Enhancement (RIPE) program, starting next year.

RIPE is seen to revisit the country’s water management and irrigation policies, and to lay down a comprehensive program to augment the farmers’ level of productivity through the conduct of a nationwide soil analysis and effective soil rehabilitation.

“Other assistance includes the provision of fertilizers, modern harvest and post-harvest facilities, and the introduction of improved rice farming technologies and high-yielding varieties of rice,” Cerbito added.

Eastern Visayas will get PHP273 million for RIPE project alone. This is on top of the more than PHP300 million budget for regular rice programs of the farm department.

Through RIPE, DA sees a potential to significantly increase the rice production from the current national average harvest of four metric tons (MT) per hectare through the provision of hybrid rice seeds to farmers, as it delivers 15 to 20 percent yield advantage, giving higher economic returns.

The program prioritizes three Samar provinces. Samar’s production only accounts 14.12 percent of the region’s more than 900,000 mt output.

Nearby Northern Samar and Eastern Samar provinces also posted lower share at 11.18 percent and 5.97 percent, respectively.

Eastern Visayas is primarily an agricultural region where its population of more than four million population largely depend on rice as staple food. Each person in the region consumes 127 kilograms of rice per year.

Out of the region’s 723,048 hectares agricultural land area, 22 percent is devoted to rice cultivation or 157,632 hectares. This, coupled with some other factors affecting production thus, makes rice account for the largest contribution at 21.86 percent to the region’s total agricultural output, according to DA. (PNA)
JMC/SARWELL Q. MENIANO