DA compiling master list of rice clusters

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is compiling a master list of all rice clusters or irrigators associations and palay farmers nationwide to help determine the particular intervention or productivity measures that should be put in place in every province under the Rice Self Sufficiency Plan that aims to attain 98 percent sufficiency for the country by 2010.

Under the Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan crafted by the DA with the help of agricultural experts, the country’s governors, as provincial rice champions, would take center stage in increasing the palay productivity of their respective provinces by spearheading the development and implementation of rice self-sufficiency plans tailor-fit to their provinces.

Accordng to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the master list, which will include profiles of farmers, will also be used as database showing information on the total number of rice farmers, total rice area planted per season and types of ecosystems.

Local government units (LGUs) are expected to work with the DA on the “clustering approach” of grouping adjacent farms into clusters in their localities.

Clustering, Yap said, is a strategy to better infuse production inputs and technological interventions to increase the productivity of palay growers.

Yap said the DA is eyeing around 19,000 rice clusters in 2009, with each cluster covering at least 50 hectares.

The number of clusters will drop to 9,000 in 2010 by expanding each cluster into at least 100 hectares.

“Under the clustering approach, the current productivity situation and resource profile of the cluster areas will be the basis for identifying the needed DA intervention measures, which will be grouped into four major components,” Yap said.

The four components, Yap cited, are production, technology development, information and extension support; infrastructure development and maintenance; market and credit assistance; and regulatory and program management.

“Specific program interventions include the provision of high-quality seeds, inputs, surface water pumps, and shallow tube wells; repair and rehabilitation of irrigation facilities; construction of farm-to-market roads; research and development, and credit facilitation,” Yap said.

The master list, Yap said, would be compiled by agricultural technicians assigned in rice clusters.

The completed master lists in the municipal level will be submitted by the Municipal Agricultural Office to the Office of the Provincial Agriculture, and the lists will serve as basis for all project interventions and for other purposes that may be requested by the DA, Yap said.

The Arroyo administration’s rice self-sufficiency plan over the next two years will focus on 49 provinces.

The plan aims to increase palay harvest to 18.5 million metric tons in 2009 and to 19.8 million MT in 2010.

The plan will cover five harvests — the wet or main cropping seasons this year and in 2009, two dry cropping seasons in 2009 and 2010, and one quick turnaround or QTA planting season in between next year’s dry and wet cropping seasons.