Rice farming strategies requiring less water usage by farmers that would allow them to continue to plant rice in the six provinces in the region will be implemented by the Department of Agriculture Cordillera (DA-CAR) amidst the El Nino phenomenon.
DA-CAR Rice Focal Person and Agriculture Center Chief II Edwin Joseph Franco said the measure complies with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s earlier directive to the DA to assist Filipino farmers amid El Niño.
“For the Cordillera region, generally, we do not foresee any province that will undertake the Quick-Turn-Around (QTA) due to the effects of El Nino, but will follow the regular planting schedule because of the available supply of water expected from the rains that are to be felt by May and June, and the scheduled distribution of water to the farming areas by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA),” Franco explained.
During the National Task Force El Nino meeting on February 12 this year, DA Assistant Secretary for Operations U-Nichols Manalo said implementation of “Low-Water-Use” (LWU) technology is underway aside from the QTA which allows immediate rice replanting right after harvest.
AWD is a water-saving technology that rice farmers can apply to reduce their water use in irrigated fields, while QTA is a strategy wherein all rice farms after harvest shall quickly replant immediately without waiting for the months of the succeeding planting season to begin.
“Apayao will be the first to harvest probably by the third week of March which is their cut-off and is seen to be the peak of their harvest, allowing the soil to rest for around three weeks as the source of water is expected to be available by May 1st which is part of the regular planting schedule,” the Rice Focal Person stated.
Franco said that Kalinga Province which has a longer planting schedule would be late in their harvest, those that transplanted in week 1 of January will have a regular planting schedule by June 1st.
Rizal, Kalinga is expected to harvest early as they are expected to harvest by this time with QTA usually being conducted by April with the supply of water seen as lesser due to El Nino making the farmers wait for May when rains are expected to be felt during the regular planting schedule, Abra Province is scheduled to harvest by April.
“DA-CAR is currently monitoring 76 to 100 hectares of tail-end areas in the region which will be supplied with water pumps,” Franco added.
Although Abra, Apayao, and Kalinga are the rice-producing provinces in CAR, the Cordillera region is still considered a rice importing area that imports rice from nearby rice-producing provinces like Isabela, Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan. The rice produced in the three CAR provinces is dedicated to the consumption of the provinces in CAR. By JTLlanes
