The Department of Agriculture boosts its commitment to provide adequate support to food production. This is to ensure that there will be available and affordable food for every Filipino family.

Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar assures that the country has enough rice for the next three months, with additional supply from dry season harvest expected to sustain stock inventory level until June.

The harvest season has now come for Caraga region, it is expected to produce 315,947 metric tons or an equivalent of 134% rice sufficiency by the end of the first semester of the year based on the data of the Department of Agriculture -Caraga Rice Program through the consolidated planting report of the Local Government Units.

“We expect no rice shortage during the duration of the localized community quarantine in the region. On top of the Department’s budget for this year, we are expecting a supplemental fund under the Plant, Plant, Plant Program or Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat (ALPAS) Laban sa COVID-19 Program,” OIC-Regional Technical Director for Operations Rebecca R. Atega said.

The Plant, Plant, Plant Program is an initiative of the DA to increase farm productivity and ensure food sufficiency during the COVID-19 state of emergency.

According to PSA data, the region’s rice average consumption per person per year is 118.14 kilograms.  Surigao del Norte posted the highest per capita consumption of rice at 121.07 kilograms per person annually. The least consumption is registered in the Province of Dinagat Islands at 114.61 kilograms.

The pressure in the rice industry to produce more is vital during the present pandemic. DA-Caraga is again calling on the public to patronize other alternative staple food such as white corn, sweet potato, banana (saba), and cassava instead of relying solely on rice. This is to take part in the advocacy to be “rice-ponsible” consumers.

“The Department considers the rice farmers and other workers in the sector as one of the food security frontliners. Despite the concerns brought by COVID-19, we will continue to empower them to ensure continued production, through the provision of high-yielding seeds, farm inputs, technologies, and the rehabilitation and establishment of the small-scale irrigation projects that will improve the production,” Atega said.

Under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Program, the Department, through the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) – Agusan, is set to distribute high-quality inbred seeds that will benefit more than 40,000 farmers. This will be planted in May for the wet cropping season.

Along with this, the Rice Program is set to release around 1,600 bags of hybrid rice seeds for the early planters in the region.

On the other hand, the agricultural modernization intervention last year to 280 farmer associations and cooperatives under RCEF and Rice Program will contribute to bringing savings in input and labor cost.

DA’s interventions such as mechanical rice transplanters, four-wheel-drive tractors, rice combine harvesters, hand tractors, rice threshers, rice reapers, seed spreaders, and pump and engine sets are part of DA’ mechanization and irrigation programs that will help the rice farmers in the region.

With these various interventions, it is expected that each rice farmer will increase their yield by 1-2 metric tons per hectare.

OIC-RTD Atega also commended the Regional Task Force for COVID-19 One Caraga Shield- for the harmonized guidelines of the regional community quarantine in the region to address the threat of the disease.

“The harmonized guidelines in the region answers the Department’s appeal to all local chief executives to let agri-fishery essential commodities to easily pass through quarantine exit and entry points through the DA issued food lane conduct pass,” Atega said.

The food lane accreditation of DA-Caraga has already served around 3,000 walk-in and online clients in the region.

The DA together with its attached agencies and bureaus are doing these measures as an initiative in combating the threats of COVID-19. (Rhea Abao/DA13-RAFIS)