Rice self-sufficiency goal possible by 2013 – PHILRICE

Nueva Ecija—The chief of the country’s lead agency in rice research and development based here is optimistic that the country will soon become self-sufficient in rice despite a backslide in agricultural production brought by the recent onslaught of El Niño.

Ronilo Beronio, PhilRice executive director, released the 2010 dry-season results of the government’s location specific technology development (LSTD) program in 22 provinces across the country, revealing the impact of the institute’s banner project to farmers’ yield.

“The results support the Aquino administration’s main agenda of becoming rice sufficient by 2013 as recently announced by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala,” Beronio said.

Based on a regular survey monitoring the progress of the project, PhilRice’s LSTD program contributed an average yield increase of 3 percent during the dry season of 2010.

The farmer-tailored project originally benefiting about 100,000 rice tillers created more significant impact in Abra, Cagayan and Albay, where yield increase ranges from 25 percent to 36 percent.

LSTD project sites in Cagayan, which was declared in a state of calamity during the El Niño phenomenon, gained an increase of about 1 ton per hectare (t/ha).

Meanwhile, sites in other drought-stricken areas such as Bulacan and Nueva Ecija attained yield increases of 12 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

“The data shows that PhilRice is fulfilling its part in helping the country become rice self-sufficient. Of the targeted annual rice-production increase of 7 percent, PhilRice can deliver about 3 percent,” said Beronio.

The remaining 4 percent needed to increase the country’s rice production will be derived from support infrastructure such as irrigation, farm-to-market roads and transportation.

“Other agencies attached to the Department of Agriculture will address other factors leading to the production increase. But for our part, the increase we contributed to farmers’ yield is attributed to appropriate technology and effective extension services,” Beronio said.

He added that the LSTD program, primarily implemented by rice-sufficiency officers, assists farmers in developing and packaging technologies and new farm practices suited in their areas.

Farmers in the project sites, Beronio noted, also augmented their income through the use of certified seeds and cost-saving technologies such as minus-one element technique (MOET) and leaf-color chart (LCC).

Using certified seeds, seed germination rate is improved and uneven rice plant growth is minimized, resulting in an increased income of about P9,000 per cropping season. This increase, according to the authors of the Philippine Rice Masterplan for 2009-13, is “mainly attributed to the increase in yield and savings from reduced cost owing to seed subsidy.”

Meanwhile, farmers can test their paddy soil for deficiency of six nutrient elements for only P175 using MOET—reliable, low-cost and easy alternative technique for diagnosing soil nutrient status. With laboratory analysis, farmers will pay P300 for every nutrient element.

LCC or the four-stripped plastic “ruler” used in assessing nitrogen status of rice plant can generate savings of up to P2,000 per hectare in nitrogen fertilizer use.

“As PhilRice realizes the Rice Science for Development, workers in rice science and development will try to address not just farmers’ low yield, but all other equally important facets of their lives,” Beronio said. –Ramon Efren R. Lazaro / Correspondent, Businessmirror