Press Release
May 2, 2008

INVEST IN IRRIGATION AND POSTHARVEST TO SOLVE LONG-TERM RICE NEEDS - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today called for "a genuine investment" in postharvest facilities and irrigation systems as long-term solutions to the rice problem in the country, and stressed that these two areas alone can cover the Philippines' rice shortage or yearly imports.

The country presently has 4.2 million hectares of rice harvest area, of which 1.4 million are irrigated through the national irrigation systems, and communal irrigation system. Of this 1.4 million hectares of irrigated land, 700,000 hectares have fully functional irrigation systems, while 400,000 hectares require immediate repair and rehabilitation.

"For the wet season beginning September, we must concentrate all support on the 700,000 hectares of irrigated rice land because of its potential for higher and better yield. The support for high yield seeds and post-harvest facilities should be concentrated in these 700,000 hectares, situated mostly in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Bicol and Iloilo," said Angara.

Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Congressional Commission on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM), added that the P500-million fertilizer subsidy or the bulk of it must be allocated to farmers primarily in these rice lands.

"Moreover, during these remaining dry months of May and June, we should immediately work on the repair and rehabilitation of the 400,000 hectares. The cost of restoration is only P60,000 per hectare, yet adds one additional rice crop per year," he said.

"With this 400,000-hectare rehabilitation alone we will produce an additional 2 million tons of rice . This is close to covering our entire shortage, or our yearly imports."

Moreover, Angara said that flatbed dryers should be distributed in the target irrigated areas to help save 15% of production losses due to inadequate post-harvest facilities, of which 5% is due to poor drying alone.

"By prioritizing the 1.4 million-hectare irrigated land for production and post-harvest management, we can immediately eliminate our rice shortage of 1.6 million tons . This is the most practical solution to the current rice shortage," he said.

A former Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Angara principally authored the Agricultural Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997, a masterplan for agricultural modernization which other countries in Southeast Asia have adopted.

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