ENOUGH SUPPLY. The Department of Agriculture in Caraga is expecting 315,947 metric tons of rice harvest by the end of the first quarter of 2020. This will ensure a steady supply of rice while community quarantines are imposed in provinces and towns amid the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. (Photo courtesy of DA-13 Information Office)
BUTUAN CITY – Caraga Region's first quarter harvest season for rice will ensure available food supply in the area amid the region-wide quarantine to contain the spread of 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.
Harvest season for rice for the first quarter of 2020 will begin by the last week of April that will continue until May, DA-Caraga (DA-13) said in a statement.
DA-13 estimates a total of 315,947 metric tons (MT) of rice harvest that will ensure rice sufficiency in the region until the end of the first semester this year, the statement added.
The data is based on the consolidated planting report submitted by the local government units (LGUs) in the region.
“We expect no rice shortage during the duration of the localized community quarantine in the region,” said Rebecca Atega, DA-13 OIC-Technical Director for Operations.
Atega said that on top of its budget this year, the agency is expecting a supplemental fund under the DA’s "Plant, Plant, Plant Program or Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat" (ALPAS) Laban sa Covid-19 Program.
The program is to increase farm productivity and ensure food sufficiency during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Based on the data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the rice consumption average in Caraga is recorded at 118.14 kilograms per person annually.
PSA said the province of Surigao del Norte posted the highest rice consumption average recorded at 121.07 kilograms per person annually.
The lowest average rice consumption in the region is recorded in the Province of Dinagat Islands (PDI), at 114.61 kilograms.
“The pressure in the rice industry to produce more is a vital action in the midst of the threats of the Covid-19,” Atega said.
She also called on the public to patronize the other alternative staple food available, such as white corn, sweet potato, banana, and cassava.
“The department considers the rice farmers and other workers in the sector as food security front-liners. Despite the concerns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, we will continue to empower them to ensure continued production through the provision of high-yielding seeds, farm inputs and technologies,” Atega said.
She said DA-13 will also work to improve the support infrastructures for the rice farmers such as the small-scale irrigation systems to ensure the increased rice production. (PNA)
