DA, India-based agency to map out rainfed agri program for Phl

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA), through the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), will lead the mapping out and formulation of a unified and integrated Philippine Rainfed Agriculture Research and Development and Extension Program (PHIRARDEP).

The DA, through a consultation-workshop, is crafting policy frameworks and institutional strategies to boost the rainfed agriculture in the country.

Rainfed agriculture is an important sector given that the Philippines is predominantly rainfed, covering three-fourths of the 10 million hectares of total cultivated area.

Rainfed agriculture, as defined by Dr. Aziz Merzouk of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), refers to the cultivation of crops without irrigation and utilizes mainly “green water” (water that comes from precipitation and is stored in the unsaturated soil).

Rainfed agriculture includes drylands, which are inhabited by almost 20 million people, most of whom are very poor and are located in Northern Luzon, Central Visayas and Southern Mindanao.

Important as it is, rainfed agriculture is also one of the most vulnerable sectors.

Farming in rainfed areas is risky due mainly to recurrent droughts, pest infestation, poor and degraded soils, lack of physical infrastructure and weak social services.

More than that, rainfed agriculture is not given much attention in terms of funding support.

Over the last three decades, the bulk of agricultural RDE investments, policy support, and infrastructure development have been devoted to favorable irrigated lowland areas.

According to BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar, “to attain food security in a sustainable manner, we need to protect the natural resource-base and substantially reduce poverty.”

PHIRARDEP, which will be implemented by the DA-Regional Field Units (RFUs) and Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Centers (RIARCs), and selected state universities and colleges (SUCs), will cover four components.

They are rainfed farming systems innovation; participatory watershed management; strategic social science and policy research and capacity building, communication and social mobilization.

Experts from the India-based R&D institution, ICRISAT, will also be tapped to provide technical assistance and expertise in the field of dryland agriculture.