BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture (DA-CAR) is pushing for the use of drought-resistant and pest-resistant varieties of rice and other agricultural crops to ensure that farmers will be able to be resilient to the onslaught of disasters and natural calamities that would affect their productivity.
Dr.DaniloDaguio, DA-CAR assistant regional director, said the agency is now pilot testing the production of the Green Super Rice, a tested rough-resistant and pest-resistant rice variety, in rain-fed areas in the different parts of the region in order to significantly increase the productivity of rice farmers for them to cope up with the serious negative effects of climate change to their production cycle.
The Green Super Rice was developed by the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Nueva Ecija-based Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI) and that it is capable of producing at least 250 cavans per hectare which is more than double than the production of existing rice varieties produced in the different rice-producing areas of the region.
“We have to make sure that there will be a consistent increase in the production of our rice farmers, especially in our rain-fed areas, so that they can cope up with the fast changing times and provide adequate supply of rice for the local populace,” Daguio stressed.
Aside from providing rice farmers with drought-resistant and pest-resistant rice varieties for mass production, Daguio added one of the immediate interventions being provided by the national government to help improve the productivity of farmers is the construction of farm to market roads in order to significantly reduce the cost of transporting agricultural crops to the market and sustain their quality that will guarantee their marketability.
According to him, agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the people in the different parts of the region but the contribution of the sector to the gross regional domestic product seems to be insignificant because of its vulnerability to climate change, natural disasters among other factors, thus, there is a need to improve its stature as one of the region’s economic drivers.
Apart from rice and corn, Daguio projected the need to also significantly increase the production of high value crops in order to meet the growing demand of the market for semi-temperate vegetables that would avert the possibility of illegally sneaking into the country similar types of crops from other countries that would be in direct competition with locally produced ones.
The DA-CAR official asserted the need for farmers to embrace the changes that are being introduced by concerned government agencies so that they will be able to cope with the competition from other countries, especially with the upcoming implementation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration by the end of this year.
He added the successful pilot testing of the new rice variety in rain-fed areas will greatly ensure the stability of rice supply regionwide and even during times of calamities considering that farmers will have available supply of rice that will be sold to the people when there will be scarcity of rice during the onslaught of calamities visiting the region.
By Dexter A. See