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By Conrad M. Cariño, Senior
Desk Editor
(Editor’s note: In the first
part, the author writes of the Marcos “Masagana 99” program. The
administration pursued it even if a rice crisis was not
“imminent.” It made the Philippines a rice-exporting nation. The
threat of a rice-shortage crisis has always been a threat because
the country has not been self-sufficient in rice for most of the
last two decades. This is owing to wrong macroeconomic government
policies on agriculture.)
Last of two parts
With low investments in
agriculture, most especially rice farms, the palay yields per
hectare hovers from three to four tons in non-irrigated farms, with
the higher range produced in irrigated lands.
In China, palay yields of 10 to
12 tons per hectare, per cropping are not unusual. China was once an
importer of rice, but strived for self-sufficiency by spending
heavily on agriculture.
With the government investing so
little in agriculture, it is no wonder that poverty is very high
among agricultural households in the Philippines.
“Poverty incidence among
agricultural households is about four times that in the rest of the
population. While only a little more than one-third of the labor
force is in agriculture, two of every three destitute persons are
dependent directly on agriculture for employment and sustenance,”
said Arsenio Balisacan, head of the Southeast Asian Regional Center
for Graduate Study and Research and Agriculture (SEARCA).
Growing population
Compounding the lack of rice
self-sufficiency is the country’s growing population and the
dwindling supply of arable lands to plant rice. This combination can
be explosive, since an increasing population means more farming
areas have to be developed for human habitation.
Rodelio Cataring, the technical
assistant to the director of the Bureau of Soils and Water
Management, said rice is best planted on arable plains or flat
lands, and that most of the two to four million hectares of idle
lands that the government can open up for new agricultural
activities are mostly on hilly or upland areas that may not be
suitable for planting rice on a large scale.
While the conversion of rice
lands for commercial, industrial or residential use can be checked
by the issuance of a presidential decree or an act of Congress,
arresting population growth by contraceptives is a very sensitive
issue in largely Catholic Philippines.
“While population growth rates
declined substantially to well below 2 percent a year in such
countries as Thailand, Indonesia, China, and Vietnam, the rate in
the Philippines hardly changed; it is still at a high level of 2.3
percent a year,” Balisacan said.
Rice self-sufficiency
Nevertheless, there is no reason
to believe that the country could not attain rice self-sufficiency.
In fact, the government’s
target for attaining rice self-sufficiency is just three to four
years away, and is not an impossible dream.
Frisco Malabanan, director of the
GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Rice Program, said a 95-percent
self-sufficiency in rice is targeted in 2009 or 2010. Today, the
country’s rice self-sufficiency is already about 90 percent.
Among the reasons why the country
can achieve rice self-sufficiency is the availability of viable
technologies that can improve rice yields, and the country’s
hosting PhilRice and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Of the many available
“modern” rice-growing technologies in the Philippines, hybrid
and certified seeds are fast gaining popularity over inbred
varieties.
On hybrid seeds, Malabanan said
about 300,000 hectares of rice farms now use hybrid seeds, while the
use of genetically modified rice seeds is still “under study.”
Noel Mamicpic, vice-president of
hybrid rice producer SL Agritech Corp., said if the total area
planted to hybrid rice reaches 800,000 hectares, that will increase
local rice production by 3 million metric tons, enough to negate the
need to import rice.
The only disadvantage of hybrid
seeds is that the mature plants cannot be sourced for planting
materials, unlike certified or in-bred seeds.
Certified seeds can boost rice
yields from 20 percent to 30 percent.
Besides propagating hybrid and
certified seeds, the Agriculture department is set to jumpstart a
program that will reduce chemical fertilizer use in rice farms by 50
percent, through the use of compost, bio-fertilizers and seed
inoculants. This protocol can also increase yields from 30 percent
to 50 percent.
Farm technology
That program, called Tamang Abono,
belies the claims of critics who accuse Agriculture of favoring
chemical farming.
Likewise, PhilRice and IRRI are
collaborating on rice varieties that can withstand submergence in
water for at least two weeks.
The PhilRice’s website says
scientists from both rice-research institutes are also identifying
rice varieties that can “either avoid, tolerate or resist heat
stress.”
The experiments of PhilRice and
IRRI on water- and heat-tolerant rice-varieties address the possible
impact of climate change on rice production.
The good news is the techno-demo
rice farms of the Agriculture department using the various
technologies to increase production are yielding between 5 to 6
metric tons of palay per hectare, per cropping. There is even a
farmer in Nueva Ecija whose farm hit a record 17 metric tons per
hectare, per cropping using hybrid seeds.
Higher levels of rice production
could make rice farming a more profitable venture, which will stop
farmers from shifting to other crops, particularly biofuels.
Better rice production will also
make farmers a more creditworthy, viable borrower for banks and
financial institutions.
Opportunities abound
In a forum, Agriculture Secretary
Arturo Yap said the present crisis being faced by the country holds
many opportunities for farmers.
“Facing these grave threats
gives the golden opportunities for farmers to better their
incomes,” Yap said.
This remains to be seen. But
President Gloria Arroyo’s positive response to the present rice
crisis, and her promise of releasing billions to support the rice
industry and other agricultural activities and launching the FIELDS
programs, is laudable. FIELDS stands for what the government aims to
provide farmers: fertilizer, irrigation, extension and education,
loan and insurance, dryers and other post-harvest facilities, and
seeds.
While those developments are good
news for rice farmers, the specter of the fertilizer scam and the
recently uncovered swine scam casts a doubt if government is serious
in implementing programs without graft or corruption.
However, if much of the large
funds released by the President to support rice production is spent
as intended, then rice self-sufficiency can be attained. Besides,
much of the technology to improve rice yields is readily available,
and the unabated conversion of agricultural lands can be stopped by
a presidential action.
Balisacan said, “To win the war
against chronic food insecurity and poverty, government must put its
resources where its mouth is. It must invest in agriculture and
rural development and must improve governance relating to it and the
rest of the economy.”
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