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NIA: 1.46-M metric tons of rice at risk from El Niño

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Farmers in Barangay Sumapang Matanda, Malolos, Bulacan plant seedlings in their farm lots at the start of the second planting season Thursday, September 14, 2023. Maria Tan ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/10/07/20230914-rice-planting-malolos-mt-10.jpg"/><figcaption>Farmers in Barangay Sumapang Matanda, Malolos, Bulacan plant seedlings in their farm lots at the start of the second planting season Thursday, September 14, 2023.<em> Maria Tan ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — The Philippines may lose as much as 1.46 million metric tons of rice per harvest season due to the onset of El Niño, according to data from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).</p><p>The potential loss was computed based on the 267,000 hectares of rice field that may be compromised during the dry spell.</p><p>Among agricultural regions in the country, Central Luzon is expected to take the hardest hit with around 85,000 hectares of rice land vulnerable to the drought, said NIA Deputy Administrator Josephine Salazar.</p><p>Soccsksargen comes second with 27,000 hectares of rice fields, followed by Ilocos with 24,000 hectares.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/26/23/marcos-rejects-proposal-to-cut-rice-import-tariffs-palace">&#x27;Not the right time&#x27;: Marcos rejects proposal to cut rice import tariffs, says Palace</a></li></ul><p>Other vulnerable regions include Mimaropa (17,000 hectares), Western Visayas (15,000 hectares), Central Visayas (14,000 hectares) and Zamboanga (13,000 hectares).</p><div><strong>HIGH VALUE CROPS IN SOME AREAS</strong></div><p>“We are promoting na sa tail end portion ng irrigation system, we are proposing na high value crop ang itanim,” Salazar said.</p><p>(We are promoting... proposing that they plant high value crops at the tail end portion of the irrigation system.)</p><p>Among the crops listed as priorities of the Department of Agriculture&#x27;s High Value Crops Development program are mangos, bananas, coffee, cacao and onions. </p><p>The NIA is already coordinating with the DA for the preposition of seeds of high value crops, she said.</p><p>The NIA is asking Congress for P41 billion under the 2024 national budget to increase the area of irrigated lands in the Philippines, which stands at 2.1 million hectares or 68 percent of the total of irrigable lands in the country.</p><p>“We are requesting for that in order to sustain para maging food secure tayo,” Salazar said.</p><p>The NIA has been establishing “some drip irrigation and sprinkler systems” as well as solar-powered irrigation systems in addition to the agency’s usual irrigation projects, she said.</p><div><strong>RICE&#x27;S IMPACT ON INFLATION</strong></div><p>The Philippines needs to improve its rice supply as the staple grain accounts for “nearly 9 percent of the inflation basket” in the country, said RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort.</p><p>“Kung hindi lang tumaas yung presyo ng bigas, siguro nasa 4 percent lang yung inflation,” he said.</p><p>(If rice prices didn&#x27;t increase, inflation may have been at just 4 percent.)</p><p>“Ang importante dito kailangan patuloy na profitable, kumikita yung ating mga magsasaka kasi kung hindi sila magpo-produce, mababawasan na naman yung supply natin, aasa na naman tayo sa importation,” he said. </p><p>(What is important is for our farmers to stay profitable. If they do not make money, then they will not produce and our supply will go down. We will have to depend on importation again.)</p><p>Earlier this week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/04/23/marcos-lifts-rice-price-cap">lifted </a>the price cap on regular-milled and well-milled rice in the country, saying that the supply of rice has stabilized.</p><p>Despite a price cap on rice in September, the Philippines’s inflation rate quickened to 6.1 percent last month from the 5.3-percent inflation rate in August.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2833589" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

The NIA is asking Congress for P41 billion under the 2024 national budget to improve the number of irrigated lands in the Philippines, which stands at 2.1 million hectares or 68 percent of the total number of irrigable lands in the country.

NIA: 1.46-M metric tons of rice at risk from El Niño

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NIA: 1.46-M metric tons of rice at risk from El Niño

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 07, 2023 02:21 PM PHT

|

Updated October 07, 2023 04:53 PM PHT

Read More:

rice

NIA

National Irrigation Authority

El Niño

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