‘Antique to be more rice self-sufficient’ SAN JOSE, Antique — The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) is expecting an increased rice self-sufficiency in Antique as the harvest season peaks this month. Farmers are currently harvesting rice planted for the first cropping, covering the period May–September, said Provincial Agriculturist Nicolasito Calawag. The grains were in good condition and were cultivated well, thus, a good crop yield is expected, Calawag said. He said the PAO is expecting a 200-percent rice self-sufficiency in the province this year. Last year, he said, Antique’s rice self-sufficiency was 198 percent. Calawag said what they have are projections, pending the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics’ release of official statistics on rice production output. The rice self-sufficiently level can be determined based on the interplay of rice production, per-capita consumption and population, he said. Calawag said the training of farmers and the good variety of seeds contributed to the good condition of rice. He also said the southwest monsoon (habagat) rains that affected several areas in the country did not damage rice crops in Antique. Instead, it provided sufficient water to the rain-fed and the irrigated farmlands, he said. Antique targets to achieve a 250,000-metric ton rice production output this year. It had a rice production output of 240,449 metric tons last year. The province has a total rice land area of 42,038.32 hectares — 19,148.12 hectares are irrigated, 18,875.95 hectares are rain-fed and 4,011.25 hectares are upland areas. (PIA–Antique/PN)
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 04:10:33 +0000
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