STO. DOMINGO, Nueva Ecija – With the comprehensive approach particularly the pitch in infrastructure development, the country could set a record in rice production even as the government aims to increase by 45 percent its palay procurement this year, agriculture officials said over the weekend.
This after Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap visited a 2.5 kilometer farm to market road, flatbed dryers and warehouse facilities as well as harvestable rice crops in the far flung village of Mabini here recently.
Frisco Malabanan, national coordinator of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) underscored the success in technology transfer even as farmers’ organizations strengthen the rice sufficiency programs.
“Ang thrust ngayon ay i-cluster ang mga bukirin so mas malakas ang mga grupong magsasaka,” Malabanan said saying technology are transferred easily through the scheme. “Dito rin kailangan talaga ang tulong ng media,” he said.
Engr. Antonio Nangel, operations manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS), said that infrastructures, particularly rehabilitation of waterways and creation of new water impounding projects, have increased the rice production area by over 4,000 hectares this year.
NIA-UPRIIS currently serves some 109,000 hectares, he said.
But besides effective transfer of technology, including the use of hybrid rice varieties such as SL-8H, organized farmers managed to perform their duties that rebound to more efficient services.
“Dahil sa pagsasama-sama ng mga magsasaka, hindi bababa sa 80 percent ang nakababayad ngayon ng irrigation service fees,” Nangel said. NIA-UPRIIS charges farmers 2.4 cavans of palay (unhusked rice) a hectare during rainy days and 3 cavans a hectare during dry season, it was learned.
Yap also led the inauguration of Baca Dam in Llanera, Nueva Ecija last week.
Yap said that for the first semester of 2009, “the DA foresees palay harvests to reach a record volume of 7.2 million MT to 7.3 million MT, which is higher than last year’s output of 7.1 million MT during the same planting season.”
He said the government aims to procure one million metric tons of palay this year from local farmers. This, Yap said, will “help raise farmers’ incomes and significantly reduce our dependence on imports.”
The agriculture department reported that the National Food Authority (NFA) bought 685,000 MT of palay from local farmers from only 33,000 MT in 2007. This was the largest purchase made by the government from local farmers in almost 30 years, it said.
The move was made after Malacanang approved a massive domestic palay procurement strategy which it said would reduce dependence from imported grains.
The one-million ton procurement target of the NFA in 2009 is reportedly 45 percent higher than last year’s total volume of palay procured by the agency from domestic farmers.
This after Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap visited a 2.5 kilometer farm to market road, flatbed dryers and warehouse facilities as well as harvestable rice crops in the far flung village of Mabini here recently.
Frisco Malabanan, national coordinator of the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) underscored the success in technology transfer even as farmers’ organizations strengthen the rice sufficiency programs.
“Ang thrust ngayon ay i-cluster ang mga bukirin so mas malakas ang mga grupong magsasaka,” Malabanan said saying technology are transferred easily through the scheme. “Dito rin kailangan talaga ang tulong ng media,” he said.
Engr. Antonio Nangel, operations manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS), said that infrastructures, particularly rehabilitation of waterways and creation of new water impounding projects, have increased the rice production area by over 4,000 hectares this year.
NIA-UPRIIS currently serves some 109,000 hectares, he said.
But besides effective transfer of technology, including the use of hybrid rice varieties such as SL-8H, organized farmers managed to perform their duties that rebound to more efficient services.
“Dahil sa pagsasama-sama ng mga magsasaka, hindi bababa sa 80 percent ang nakababayad ngayon ng irrigation service fees,” Nangel said. NIA-UPRIIS charges farmers 2.4 cavans of palay (unhusked rice) a hectare during rainy days and 3 cavans a hectare during dry season, it was learned.
Yap also led the inauguration of Baca Dam in Llanera, Nueva Ecija last week.
Yap said that for the first semester of 2009, “the DA foresees palay harvests to reach a record volume of 7.2 million MT to 7.3 million MT, which is higher than last year’s output of 7.1 million MT during the same planting season.”
He said the government aims to procure one million metric tons of palay this year from local farmers. This, Yap said, will “help raise farmers’ incomes and significantly reduce our dependence on imports.”
The agriculture department reported that the National Food Authority (NFA) bought 685,000 MT of palay from local farmers from only 33,000 MT in 2007. This was the largest purchase made by the government from local farmers in almost 30 years, it said.
The move was made after Malacanang approved a massive domestic palay procurement strategy which it said would reduce dependence from imported grains.
The one-million ton procurement target of the NFA in 2009 is reportedly 45 percent higher than last year’s total volume of palay procured by the agency from domestic farmers.
