Yap sees Aurora as next rice granary

BALER, Aurora — Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap heralded this province, often struck by calamities, as the country’s next "rice granary" with the inauguration of a $2.6-million modern and integrated rice processing complex that would reduce post-harvest losses and increase farmers’ income and productivity.

Yap told The STAR it is possible that Aurora could emerge as the country’s top rice producer not on gross volume basis but on per capita production based on a combination of good seeds technology and lower post-harvest losses.

With the rice processing complex, he said Aurora farmers would be able to produce an average of six tons or 120 cavans of rice per hectare.

"The national average is roughly only between 88 and 80 cavans per hectare so Aurora has a good chance of becoming the rice granary on the basis of production per hectare," he said.

Yap graced the inauguration of the complex, funded by the Korean government’s first and only grant, so far, for agriculture mechanization in the country.

With him were Minister Hong Sung Mog, consul general of the Korean Embassy who represented Korean Ambassador Hong Jong Ki; Sung Ho Choi, resident representative of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA); and Young Sang Lee, vice president of Kocat Inc., the Korean contractor.

On hand to welcome them were Sen. Edgardo Angara, House Deputy Minority Leader Juan Edgardo Angara, Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo and local officials.

Sen. Angara and the provincial government negotiated the construction of the complex on a 1.1-hectare land in Barangay Reserva, with the Korean government. KOICA provided a $2.3-million (P115-million) grant, with $300,000 counterpart funding from the Philippine government.

Yap said his department is extending P10 million to local farmers to enable them to plant more quality seeds and further increase production.