|
By Ira Karen Apanay, Senior Reporter
AGRICULTURE Secretary Arthur Yap on Friday expressed confidence that
the domestic ‘palay’ (unhusked rice) production target of 16.8
million metric tons for 2008 can still be reached despite a
significant decline in use of chemical fertilizers.
The prices of chemical fertilizers rose sharply
during the first three quarters of the year.
Yap said the expansion of palay areas to 2.58
million hectares during this wet crop, which is 7.5-percent higher
than the original target area of 2.4 million hectares, would
partially offset the negative impact from the drop in fertilizer
usage.
“Although per-hectare yields have dropped
because of the corresponding decline in fertilizer use, we have
managed to offset this by expanding the areas planted to palay [for]
this wet crop [season],” Yap said.
He added that “so by the end of the year, if
we compute it, total palay production will still surpass last
year’s record and we will still attain our highest ever yield for
palay.”
High cost of fertilizers
The Agriculture agency said the 30-percent drop
in fertilizer usage was the result from the nearly 100-perecent jump
in the cost of petrochemical fertilizers, which was triggered by the
upward spiral in crude oil prices in the world market. The average
domestic prices of petroleum-based fertilizers skyrocketed from
P1,200 last year to as high as P2,000 a bag during the first three
quarters of the year.
Yap further said that the Agriculture
department’s new production target of 16.7 million metric tons for
the year is higher than the 2007 yield of 16.24 million metric tons.
Yap also noted that the type of seeds used by
farmers was also a key factor in increasing palay production. He
noted that traditional seed varieties produce lower yields of 70 to
80 bags per hectare, as against the 160 to 200 bags from
high-yielding seeds.
To further boost palay production in the
country, Yap said the Agriculture department is targeting to double
the areas planted to hybrid seeds from 200,000 hectares to 400,000
hectares.
Yap also said irrigation is important in raising
the country’s rice self-sufficiency level, because it takes about
2,000 liters or 10 drums of water to produce just one kilo of rice.
Over 6.7 million metric tons of palay have been
harvested so far from half the 2.58 million hectares planted during
the wet or main cropping season.
Dr. Frisco Malabanan, the national coordinator
of the Gi-nintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program, said the
preliminary yields indicate the government can still attain a
positive growth in palay production this year despite the drop in
fertilizer use.
Malabanan said the full-year production forecast
of 16.8 million metric tones was based on the combined yields of
10.587 million metric tons from the first three quarters of 2008,
which represents a growth rate of 7.22 percent compared to the 9.874
million metric tons harvested during the same period last year.
|
