NIA: Change of cropping calendar eyed for rice self-sufficiency
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s cropping calendar may change in a bid to achieve rice self-sufficiency, according to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Chief Eduardo Guillen on Thursday.
Guillen said he had spoken to Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio Sebastian about the proposed shift.
“Kausap po ng NIA ang DA dito, medyo babaguhin lang po natin iyong cropping calendar natin. Ang sabi nga ni Undersecretary Leo diyan ay dapat kapag dry season, ito po iyong talagang dapat mataas ang ani natin,” said Guillen during the Laging Handa Public Briefing.
(The NIA and the DA are discussing it, we will just change our cropping calendar a bit. As Undersecretary Leo said, when it’s dry season, there should be a big harvest.)
According to the NIA Administrator, wet seasons yield a total of 11 million metric tons of harvested crops, while dry seasons only yield 7 to 9 million metric tons. He says that the DA wants to focus on producing larger yields during dry seasons.
“I-re-reposition lang po natin yung resources natin dun sa time na mas marami tayong ma-aani. Ito na po yung dry season,” Guillen explained.
(We will just reposition our resources towards a time that we can have a bigger harvest. This is for the dry season.)
Engr. Guillen also expressed his desire to invest more in high dams that would serve to irrigate lands during dry seasons.
“At the same time po sana, dagdagan natin itong investment natin sa mga high dams para mas marami po tayong magiging taniman kahit dry seasons.”
(At the same time, hopefully, we can invest more in high dams so that we can have more arable land even during dry seasons.)
When asked about how early the country can expect to experience rice self-sufficiency, the NIA administrator says it can be achievable within two years, given that corporations go well with other agencies. —Juan Miguel Talens, trainee
