Dry spell delays rice planting, harvest

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Rice planting in Iloilo has been delayed due to the absence of rainy days, confirmed Provincial Agriculturist Ildefonso Toledo of the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office.

Toledo said the planting of rice was supposed to start in the middle of May but only 15 percent of the total 137, 000 hectares of rice land in the province has been planted, as of this month.

"Presently, there is no problem on the rice supply since we have sufficient supply during the last cropping but if the phenomena will continue until first cropping this June up to October, which is the start of the El Niño, I'm sure there will be problem on rice supply," he said.

Toledo said if farmers could not plant rice during the second cropping then definitely there will be a big problem on rice production next year.

Since the rice planting for the first cropping was already delayed, it is also expected that harvest season, which is from September to October, will also be delayed, he said.

"The delay is not good for the rice but it will be good for other crops like vegetable and corn," said Toledo, adding that higher price of rice per kilo could be felt nowadays since some farmers have been hoarding their rice products for market purposes.

Apart from hoarding, Toledo said traders are now also selling their rice outside the province. As a result, the well-milled rice, which was P34 to P35 per kilo before, is now sold at P39 to P40 per kilo.

"Minimal rice supply that causes artificial shortage in the market is an indicator of hoarding. Traders are hoarding rice because they want the right price in the market to be profitable for them," he added.