THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will strengthen its partnership with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to achieve optimum levels of planting and production activities this coming main rice cropping season.
DA Secretary William Dar in a statement said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the agency’s recommendation to pursue the optimum level of rice production with the support of the NIA, as well as the prepositioning of needed farm inputs like quality seeds and fertilizers for early planting.
“The release of irrigation water should be in sync with land preparation and planting activities, as we aim to boost palay production by 2020 to 22.12 million metric tons (MT), equivalent to 13.51 million MT of rice, or 93 percent sufficiency, six percent more than last year’s adequacy level of 87 percent,” Dar said.
He said most farmers rely on national irrigation systems, citing a study of the Philippine Rice Research Institute which showed access to irrigation water, adoption of high-quality seeds and modern technologies and farm mechanization are the major drivers of farm productivity in the country.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said irrigated farms produce higher yields, at an average of 4.43 MT of palay per hectare (ha), 1.3 MT more than rainfed areas at 3.13 MT per ha.
Meanwhile, DA said the IATF-EID has allowed the inclusion of refined sugar in the relief packs to be distributed by local government units (LGUs) to their constituents in Metro Manila and other urban centers nationwide.
Dar said LGUs can now include at least two kilograms of sugar in their relief packs to prop up demand for local sugar.
“Through this, we can ease pressure brought about by the high supply of the sweetener,” Dar said, noting that a stable market would not only benefit consumers but also sugarcane farmers harvesting their crops for the current milling season.
According to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) traders noted a 30 to 40 percent decrease in orders from food manufacturers and other institutional buyers as a result of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon and in other parts of the country.
SRA said as of April 12, trader’s warehouses in Luzon had a total raw sugar stock balance of 1.793 million 50-kilogram bags (Lkg), while refined sugar stock balance is at 2.2 million Lkg bags.
Nationwide, total sugar output was pegged at 12.3 million Lkg, while withdrawals were estimated at 8.8 million Lkg.
At present, both refined and brown sugar are mandated to follow a suggested retail price which stands at P50 per kg and P45 per kg., respectively.
