RICE OUTPUT UP
FARMERS have increased their rice and corn production despite the El Niño phenomenon through the use of a farming strategy which optimizes water use, the administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) bared on Tuesday.
“May lumabas po na PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) report lately lamang na ang sinasabi po nitong production natin nitong El Niño time natin, nitong first quarter ay tumaas po iyong production natin ng palay despite na bumaba nga iyong ating nataniman ng palay,” NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
“Hindi lang iyon, pati iyong corn production natin ang laki ng itinaas ano po – mga 5.9 percent kung hindi ako nagkakamali,” he further noted.
During a harvest festival in Guimba, Nueva Ecija, this week, Guillen said one farmer harvested at least 12 tons of palay for every hectare, which shows increasing yield with the use of the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) planting strategy. Some farmers even harvested as high 19 metric tons per hectare, he added.
For some, a 969 square meter of land produced 32 cavans of palay. A cavan is a quantity of rice, palay or corn placed in a sack weighing 50 kilos. “Makita ni Presidente itong ginagawa natin dito, eh matutuwa ‘yun. Kita mo ‘to ah, El Niño pa,” said one festival participant in a video recording.
According to the NIA chief, the agency was able to irrigate 99 percent of the country’s irrigated areas during onset of the dry spell, leaving only one percent non-irrigated.
To maximize land usage, farmers planted high-value crops such as corn to the non-irrigated tail-end area. “And, then, ang aming pronouncement noon pa ay itong ating ginagawang alternate wetting and drying technology ay malaking tulong po para mapababa ang… mas marami ang ating mapatubigan kasi nakakatipid tayo ng around 30 percent ng tubig,” Guillen said.
“At sa ating experience, ito po ay tumataas din ang yield ng ating mga farmers by… ito pong AWD technology natin. So, itong report na nga ng PSA na ito ay nagpapatunay po doon sa ating direction at iyong tama po ang ating ginagawa at ipagpapatuloy po natin iyon, itong sistema na ito,” he stressed. PCO
