By R. Villanueva, Philippines Today  via SEARCA BIC

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will prioritize 29 provinces for the planting of hybrid rice as it aims for increased farm output and a consequent higher income for farmers.

DA Secretary Arthur Yap said the department based its selection of focus provinces on the presence of extensive irrigation systems and track records of comparatively better yields in the last three years of using hybrid rice.

"In limiting the planting of hybrid rice in selected provinces, the DA will be able to rationalize the financial resources spent for the program while getting a higher per-hectare yield in the process," the official stressed. He said this is definitely better than spreading out thinly the government resources for the program.

"While the DA does not discourage farmers from the nonfocus areas to plant hybrid rice, based on the last three year's production record, a uniform high yield cannot be expected by farmers especially from the nonfocus provinces. If the farmer fails to achieve the projected high yield, it may affect the government's objective to propagate planting of hybrid rice seeds," Yap said.

A total of 214,000 hectares in the 29 selected provinces will be planted with hybrid rice for the May-October wet cropping season.

Based on the average 5.9-metric ton per hectare yield, a total of 1.2 million metric tons is projected to be harvested from the focus provinces.

"Hybrid-rice planting in these 29 provinces is in the line the government's goal to reduce the prices of wage goods especially rice - through further productivity enhancement," Yap stressed.