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By Ira Karen Apanay, Senior Reporter
Because most rice researchers are focused on
“water-hungry” varieties, the country will experience a shortage
of the staple once the looming water crisis wreaks havoc on the
countryside.
“Most [rice] technologies developed are for
irrigated areas. If we develop technologies for non-irrigated and
upland areas, then we will improve rice yields,” said Dr.
Saturnina Halos, Chairman of the Biotechnology Advisory team of the
Department of Agriculture.
She explained that the current crisis in
worldwide rice production should not be taken lightly, because it is
a long-term problem that is not easy to solve. Halos cited, for
instance, that areas planted to rice that need irrigation are
shrinking, making it necessary to focus development on rice
varieties that need less water to grow.
Also, developing national irrigation systems
requires massive fund outlays, because this also requires the
building of dams to impound large quantities of water.
At present, there are 3.1 million hectares of
irrigable lands and less than half, or 1.47 million hectares, are
served by national, communal or private irrigations systems. The
remaining areas, or 16.3 million hectares, are “rain-fed.”
Halos said that while yields in irrigated lands
hover from five to six metric tons of palay (unhusked rice) per
hectare per cropping season, the yields from non-irrigated lands are
from two to three MT per hectare/cropping. She added that the yields
from non-irrigated or rain-fed lands can be improved further, and
help the country attain self-sufficiency in rice.
A technology that can improve production of rice
in non-irrigated lands is a product based on the bacteria called
Azospirillum, which enhances the uptake of a plant’s roots of
nutrients from the soil.
Water crisis to hit RP hard
Halos said that if research efforts will not be
poured into improving yields of upland rice or rice grown in
non-irrigated lands, the country will experience a rice shortage if
there will be a water crisis.
She added that the Philippines can become one of
the countries that will be hit hard by a looming water crisis,
citing factors such as deforestation, and population growth, of
which the latter factor will put an immense pressure on dwindling
freshwater supplies.
Climate change, however, will be the main factor
that will cause the looming water crisis.
Ironically, Halos said, the first rice varieties
that were planted in the Philippines during the early 1900s were
mostly upland varieties. Some upland varieties are red in color and
have excellent taste compared to the commercial varieties all grown
in the lowlands.
But increasing the yields of rice planted on
rain-fed or non-irrigated lands has great potential, besides such
rice having the quality of not consuming large quantities of
freshwater.
“The capitalization for growing lowland rice
is big. So why don’t we just go back to upland rice?” Halos
asked.
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