NO RICE CRISIS IN PANGASINAN

LINGAYEN–All agencies of the Department of Agriculture were mobilized by Governor Amado Espino Jr. on Monday to assist farmers in increasing rice production to avert a supposed looming rice crisis locally.

Espino, stressing the urgent need to marshal all forces in order to intensify rice production, said there is also a need to produce corn, vegetable, meat and fish because “man cannot live by rice alone”.

However, the Department of Agriculture, through Regional Executive Director Cipriano Santiago, assured that there will be no rice crisis in the province, the third largest rice producer in the country after Nueva Ecija and Isabela. (Only 20,000 metric tons separate Pangasinan from Isabela).

He said records showed that total production in 2007 was 1,011,000 metric tons with a sufficiency level of 161.3%.

Nonetheless, Santiago said farmers must still learn to plant hybrid rice because only 41% of the 8,380 hectare programmed areas for hybrid rice were planted during the last dry cropping season.

Only few farmers were reportedly able to plant hybrid rice despite the P1,000 per bag subsidy provided by the DA which otherwise could costs P3,500 per bag of seeds.

For the dry cropping season, 16,500 hectares are targeted to be planted with hybrid rice while 25,000 hectares for certified seeds.

Meanwhile, Santiago hailed the program of Abono Partylist Rep. Robert Estrella Jr. to provide parental seeds sourced from the Philippine Rice Research Institute in Munoz, Nueva Ecija to 2,000 hectares of land in Pangasinan to spur local rice production.

At the same time, Santiago revealed that 22 flatbed dryers will be made available by DA to active irrigators associations in Pangasinan endorsed by the National Irrigation Administration.

DA recently gave one tractor each to the towns of Sta. Barbara, Rosales, Bayambang, Villasis and San Carlos City with Laoac as another possible recipient.#

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