Lauding Siquijor farmers who are shifting into use of quality seeds, Regional Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture, Region 7 (DA-7), Leo P. Cañeda said those who use hybrid rice seeds to at least 20% of its total land area cultivated will have a definite increase in yield.
This he said during his recent visit to Siquijor Island where he encouraged farmers to use quality seeds even as he assured them that the DA is not tired of pursuing its advocacy and of equipping farmers to rice productivity.
“I’m not giving up on our fight for rice self-sufficiency in region 7,” he said citing their efforts to be able to increase the rice yield particularly in the provinces of Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor where more areas are planted with palay than Cebu.
The country’s per capita consumption is 120 kilograms per person per year, he said citing the latest data that there are only five major rice producing countries in the world - Vietnam, China, India, Cambodia, and the United States of America.
He said, the total excess production of these countries is only five to seven percent that they can offer to the world and this represents the total rice production traded globally.
The Philippines, he said, is the second largest rice importing nation in the world which gets a big share of rice production excess from the five major producing countries.
Excess production of 5 to 7 percent will possibly decrease which means that there is a possibility that we can no longer buy rice from other countries, he said.
A five-year survey shows that there is a mass problem of little rice supply available in the market. “This is the time that we must intensify our rice production. Our country today has a target to produce 21.2 billion metric tons by 2013,” he said.
“The only avenue that we can explore to be able to bring up our sufficiency for rice is by expanding the area to increase our rice productivity, but If we cannot expand anymore because some are converted to industrial areas, the best alternative is to encourage more farmers to give bigger percentage of their land area for planting of quality seeds, said Cañeda.
The DA is now promoting the use of quality seeds called certified seeds. If we increase our area planted for quality seeds, we will be able to meet the target, he said as he calls local chief executives to help promote the use of quality seeds.
“The DA remains as the forefront in providing different and additional interventions which are vital for you to be able to increase our productivity,” he said.
Promotion of quality seeds, provision of postharvest facilities, infrastructure support, research and development, extension, among others, he said, are some of their interventions.
But we always say that without you, the farmers, there is no DA to speak off because you run the show, he also said.
“For as long as we work together, for as long as we apply the recommended package of technology, and for as long as we continue to strive, there is no reason we cannot achieve our desired yield,” he finally said. (Rizalie A. Calibo/PIA-Siquijor/Renan L. Ansing)