InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – Rice farmers should plant a month or two earlier this year to spare them from typhoons, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.
"We are usually hit by strong typhoons in October, so we have to set the (cropping) season earlier," Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said in a statement.
DA aims to boost palay production to 18.46 million metric tons this year, from 16.68 million in 2011. Rice contributes 15 percent to farm-sector growth.
The wet cropping season accounts for 60 percent of the country’s annual palay harvest.
The early planting schedule, which will start in areas in Central Luzon served by the Upper Pampanga and Magat rivers, would cover 190,000 hectares.
The Upper Pampanga River serves 386 irrigator associations that have 82,000 farmer-members, while Magat River caters to 363 groups with 65,000 farmer-members.
"It is from irrigation where we can attain the biggest difference for our yield. Farmers can plant rice only once using rainwater, but we can make it two and a half times if irrigation is improved," Alcala said.
"If we have enough water through more irrigation systems in place, it is possible to shift the trend, where we would harvest 60 percent of our total production during the dry season," he added.
Besides early planting, the DA through the National Irrigation Administration will build impounding dams downstream.
