Japan OKs P298-M commodity assistance grant for RP

The Japanese government has approved the Philippines request for a P298-million commodity assistance grant under the RP-Japan Program for the Increase of Food Production Program or the 2KR Program.

The grant will be managed by the National Agricultural and Fishery Council (NAFC), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) which spearheaded negotiations for the grant.

The 2KR program, a commodity assistance grant provided by the Japanese government will be monetized by NAFC, the proceeds of which will fund two of the DA’s two development initiatives intended to boost its rice production program.

These are the P246-million Support System for the "Tipid Abono" Fertilization Program and the P52-million Rehabilitation Program of the Aganan River Irrigation System in Iloilo.

NAFC executive director Mamerto Ellorin said the two projects will give flesh to the DA’s Development Goals 1 and 2, the focus of government efforts over the medium term, as they apply to the rice industry.

Goal 1 seeks to develop two million hectares of new agribusiness lands while Goal 2 seeks to reduce the prices of wage goods through enhanced farm productivity and promotion of marketing and retailing linkages by threshing out kinks in the supply and value chains. Wage goods refer to the farm products usually required by the wage earners.

Ellorin said these projects support the development of new rice lands and promote cheaper farming and marketing operations.

The Tipid Abono Program is a three-year initiative running along two tracks, namely: the fertilizer subsidy component and the technology transfer component.

A short-term, one-season intervention, the fertilizer subsidy component will provide a P500 per hectare subsidy, in the form of discount coupons for fertilizers, to farmers planting hybrid rice and adopting the "Tipid Abono" fertilization technology.

The technology aims to reduce rice production cost through the judicious and minimum fertilizer applications. It prescribes right mixture and amount of fertilizers for specific soil types that will ensure optimum yield of seven tons per hectare without lowering soil fertility.

The fertilizer subsidy scheme will cover 251,000 hectares in 32 provinces for one cropping season. The technology transfer component involves, among others, the establishment of "Tipid Abono" demonstration farms involving some 7,200 hectares in 32 major rice-producing provinces. The farms will showcase site-specific reformulated fertilizer mixes.

It will also involve the production and distribution in 84 provinces of a national fertilizer distribution guide maps as well as practical tools and kits for soil nutrient analysis.

On the other hand, the rehabilitation program for the Aganan River Irrigation System is a two-year undertaking that aims to repair the irrigation infrastructure, upgrade system efficiency, strengthen the irrigator’s association, raise farm production and increase farmer incomes in three towns in Iloilo, a major rice producing province. The towns are San Miguel, Oton and Pavia.

Once completed, the project will raise rice production in the project areas. Service area will expand by 304 hectares to 4,506 hectares and the number of farmer-beneficiaries by almost 200 to 3,077. Rice paddies are expected to yield 100 cavans per hectare during the wet season, and 90 cavans during the dry season.

Moreover, cost of irrigation system maintenance is expected to drop by P700,000, from P1.2 million to P500,000 only.