THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is confident that it will meet its full-year agriculture production target for 2011 despite several typhoons that hit the country in the second half of last year.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala told reporters on Thursday that the farm sector can easily
hit its growth target of 3 percent to 3.5 percent for 2011 driven by strong production in the crop subsector—particularly in palay (unmilled rice), corn and sugarcane.
“Palay production remained strong despite the typhoons that hit the country,” Alcala said, noting that favorable weather condition in the first half of the year boosted harvest in crops like corn and sugarcane.
The DA chief also noted that palay production would have been better if not for the series of typhoons that struck the country in the second half.
He said they will come up with the final farm output figures next week.
Earlier, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) lowered its full-year production outlook to 3 percent to 3.5 percent from the earlier forecast of 4.5 percent to 5 percent growth, following the massive devastation brought by several typhoons to crops.
BAS also lowered palay production forecast to 16.68 million metric tons, or 5.7-percent higher than the 15.77 million MT recorded in 2010, but lower than the earlier forecast of 17.3 million MT for 2011 under the rice self-sufficiency program.
On the other hand, Dante Delima, director of the DA-National Rice Program, said that their initial estimates showed a 50 percent-increase in palay production in the first quarter of 2012 as farmers take advantage of the rains brought by the La Nina phenomenon.
In the first quarter of 2011, the Philippines recorded the biggest palay production in the country’s history aided by improved irrigation facilities and rains.
Based on records, the country’s paddy rice production jumped by 15.6 percent to 4.03 million MT in the first quarter of 2011.
In line with this, Alcala said that they may secure new loans to finance its 2012 palay-buying program as part of the government’s rice self-sufficiency program.
“The loan will be used to buy locally-produced palay since we have no importation for this year,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Philippines may seek additional sugar allocation from the United States on top of the regular US sugar quota for this crop year, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said also on Thursday.
Ma. Regina Bautista-Martin, SRA administrator, told reporters that they are prepared to ship at least 100,000 MT of sugar to the US, which will be on top of the 138,000 MT allocated to the Philippines for crop year 2011-2012.
“We have received reports that many countries failed to deliver their US sugar allocation. So we are hoping that we would get higher sugar quota from the US once they release their reallocation in April,” Martin said.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala told reporters on Thursday that the farm sector can easily
hit its growth target of 3 percent to 3.5 percent for 2011 driven by strong production in the crop subsector—particularly in palay (unmilled rice), corn and sugarcane.
“Palay production remained strong despite the typhoons that hit the country,” Alcala said, noting that favorable weather condition in the first half of the year boosted harvest in crops like corn and sugarcane.
The DA chief also noted that palay production would have been better if not for the series of typhoons that struck the country in the second half.
He said they will come up with the final farm output figures next week.
Earlier, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) lowered its full-year production outlook to 3 percent to 3.5 percent from the earlier forecast of 4.5 percent to 5 percent growth, following the massive devastation brought by several typhoons to crops.
BAS also lowered palay production forecast to 16.68 million metric tons, or 5.7-percent higher than the 15.77 million MT recorded in 2010, but lower than the earlier forecast of 17.3 million MT for 2011 under the rice self-sufficiency program.
On the other hand, Dante Delima, director of the DA-National Rice Program, said that their initial estimates showed a 50 percent-increase in palay production in the first quarter of 2012 as farmers take advantage of the rains brought by the La Nina phenomenon.
In the first quarter of 2011, the Philippines recorded the biggest palay production in the country’s history aided by improved irrigation facilities and rains.
Based on records, the country’s paddy rice production jumped by 15.6 percent to 4.03 million MT in the first quarter of 2011.
In line with this, Alcala said that they may secure new loans to finance its 2012 palay-buying program as part of the government’s rice self-sufficiency program.
“The loan will be used to buy locally-produced palay since we have no importation for this year,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Philippines may seek additional sugar allocation from the United States on top of the regular US sugar quota for this crop year, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said also on Thursday.
Ma. Regina Bautista-Martin, SRA administrator, told reporters that they are prepared to ship at least 100,000 MT of sugar to the US, which will be on top of the 138,000 MT allocated to the Philippines for crop year 2011-2012.
“We have received reports that many countries failed to deliver their US sugar allocation. So we are hoping that we would get higher sugar quota from the US once they release their reallocation in April,” Martin said.
Comments
Post a Comment