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MANILA - The Philippines' first-half rice harvest likely increased by as much as five percent from a year ago, the Department of Agriculture said on Monday.
The country produced 7.577 million metric tons of rice in the first six months of last year.
“We are expecting higher output from farmers, specially those who joined the early cropping scheme,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dante Delima, who coordinates the National Rice Program, told reporters.
He said the government met the 150,000-hectare target for the early cropping season, which is covered by two major irrigation systems in Northern and Central Luzon.
The DA putting in place schemes to shift the rice planting calendar and increase yield, thus helping attain rice self-sufficiency by next year.
“Since these areas are irrigated, the expected yield will be at least five metric tons per hectare,” Delima said.
Irrigation to rice farms will be covered by National Irrigation Administration’s Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System and the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System.
The DA has pushed for the adjustment of the rice cropping schedule to help farmers in major rice producing areas avoid the typhoon-prone months of September to October.
Delima said DA will conduct a nationwide consultation to study the effects of the early cropping system on rice yield and farmers' incomes.
“Once proven effective, we will encourage more farmers to join the early planting scheme and we may no longer import rice by 2013,” he said.
The DA targets to produce 18.46 million metric tons of rice this year, and more than 20 million by 2013 to attain self-sufficiency.
Last year, the country managed to harvest 16.68 million metric tons despite strong typhoons, 5.8 percent more than the 15.77 million produced in 2010.
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