SAMAL, Bataan — Lesser harvest due to super Typhoon Karding, high cost of farm inputs, and lower price of palay are some of the concerns voiced Saturday by some farmers in the towns of Samal and Orion in Bataan.
Farmer Angelo Bugay, 44, of Barangay Gugo, Samal harvested only 25 cavans of palay from his one hectare land this rainy season that ended this October. He said his yield for the same season last year was 80 cavans.
“Ang dahilan ng pagbaba ng ani ay ang pagkakabagyo at ang pagtaas ng presyo ng pataba at iba pang kailangan sa pagsasaka,” Bugay said. With the high cost of fertilizers, he was not able to apply the necessary fertilizers to his rice plants. Bugay asked government to regulate and lower the prices of fertilizers and other farm inputs.
Carlos Acuña, 69, of Barangay Sto. Domingo, Orion, harvested 169 cavans of palay from his one and one-half hectare rice land where he used to harvest more than 200 cavans.
Not only the decrease in yield but also in the low price of palay and high cost of farm inputs that Acuña was concerned of. He said that the present price of undried palay is P14 per kilo and P17 a kilo for the dried kind. He has to pay farm workers P30 per cavan to dry his palay at the shoulder of the national road.
Acuña said that commercial fertilizers that used to cost P1,000 a bag are now priced at P2,600 while the price of insecticides and diesel that he uses for irrigation also went up. He asked government to help the farmers.
“Bigyan ng magandang suporta ang mga magsasaka at mga makinarya para mapabilis ang pagtatrabaho at makabawi sa gastos at babaan ang mga presyo ng gamit sa pagsasaka. Mas maganda magkaroon ng subsidy at dapat kalahati na lang ang babayaran ng mga magsasaka gaya sa ibang bansa,” Acuña said.
He said, in jest, that he hoped that the subsidy will be given while he is still alive but if not, he wished that the future generation of farmers benefit from it.
“Baka wala nang magsaka kung pahirap nang pahirap ang magsasaka. Ang iba ay hindi na nagsaka dahil sa mahal ng gastos,” Acuña said.
Rice mill operator Ruben Marjadas of Sto. Domingo, Orion, said that harvest in the town was still on the average although there were some portions of rice lands that were affected by the typhoon.
He said that farmers along his area harvested from 80 to 120 cavans a hectare. The problem, he said, was in the price of palay that went down from P20 to P17 – P18 per kilo.
“Baka pagkayari ng anihan ay tumaas ang presyo dahil ganoon naman ang nangyayari pero sana huwag naman dahil kawawa din ang mga namimili na ordinaryong tao. Sana i-maintain ang presyo kasi kawawa din ang magsasaka kapag masyadong mababa kaya i-balance,” Marjadas said.
