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friday - august 2, 2013
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AgriBusiness
P10M worth of crops, infra damaged in Koronadal floods, landslides By Allen V. Estabillo
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—An estimated P10-million worth of agricultural crops and infrastructure were damaged as a result of the recent flashfloods and landslides that ravaged eight barangays in Koronadal City. C y r u s Ur b a no , Kor on a d a l C it y administrator, said Wednesday such figure was based on the initial damage assessment reports submitted to the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) by the city engineering and agriculture offices.
He said the damage to infrastructure has reached nearly P7 million while those on agricultural crops was listed at around P3.1 million. “This assessment does not include the damage to properties of the affected households,” said Urbano, who heads the CDRRMO. T he CDR R M C ou nci l headed by Koronadal City Mayor Peter Miguel passed a resolution last Monday declaring the entire city under a state of calamity due to the effects of the floods and landslides.
A CDRRMO report showed that the floods and landslides affected portions of barangays Assumption, Mambucal, Sta. Cruz, San Isidro, Carpenter Hill, Namnama, Concepcion and Zone 3 in Poblacion. Urbano said their assessment is still ongoing for the damages wrought by the calamities at the household level, especially those affected by the floods in barangays Zone 3, San Isidro and Assumption. Portions of the three villages were submerged in waist-deep f loodwaters following hours of continuous rains last
R12 contributes 50% of PHL’s premium rice export — DA By Danilo E. Doguiles
KORONADAL CITY—Since May this year, the Philippines, through the Department of Agriculture has exported 106.55 metric tons of premium rice. Reports from DA-12 indicated that almost half of these exports of colored, long grain, and aromatic rice came from farmer groups in Soccsksargen Region or Region 12. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and Assistant Secretary and National Rice Program Coordinator Dante Delima led the send-off of 45 metric tons (MT) of premium rice to export/PAGE 10
PHL targets to wipe out coffee imports
THE government has started crafting a blueprint that will set the direction for t he development of t he coffee sector and enable the Philippines to stop depending on imports from neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam. T he D e p a r t me nt of Agriculture (DA) presented the road map for coffee during the f irst genera l assembly of the Philippine Coffee Alliance on July 29. The “Master Plan for the Philippine Coffee Industry,” presented by High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) Director Jennifer Remoquillo, will provide guidance to attain a costcompetitive sector “that is reliable and environmentf riend ly a ligned w it h global quality standards, targets/PAGE 11
Population, consumption threaten rice sufficiency bid THE government’s rice self-sufficiency program faces viability and sustainability issues as a result of the country’s rising consumption and population rates. While the Department of Agriculture boasts of achieving a 98-percent rice selfsufficiency this year, international and local research groups, however, cited several hindrances to the long-term viability of the program. According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), one of the major challenges is keeping up with a rapidly growing population that, unlike other Asian nations, has also grown to consume more rice in the last decade. “The population of the Philippines is estimated at 97 million. Its annual growth rate of around 2% – among the world’s highest – means that just to keep pace with growing demand the country would have to increase rice production and yield at rates rarely seen in history,” said the IRRI. DA Secretary Proceso Alcala estimated that for 2013, “because of good weather condition,” the country can produce 13.03 million metric tons (MT) of milled rice,
exceeding the domestic demand of 11.23 million MT. The problem is whether this could be sustained in the coming years given the Philippines’ increasing rice consumption, according to experts. In a recent study by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), it was shown that Filipinos have progressively consumed more rice in the last two decades. The SEARCA study found that while rice consumption has declined in most other Asian countries, per capita consumption in the Philippines rose to 13 percent, from 106 kg in 2000 to 119 kg in 2009. Both the IRRI and its local counterpart, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), find the ‘trend’ a challenge given the ‘logistics’ of rice production. “We need about 25 drums of water to produce a kilogram of palay. We should take into consideration the tremendous resources, labor, and risk in producing palay. The fact is, rice is the only crop that needs huge resources and effort to produce,” said bid/PAGE 11
Friday that caused the critical Bulok Creek and several waterways to overflow. The almost nonstop rains were spawned by a passing Low Pressure Area that was embedded in a prevailing Intertropical Convergence Z one (ITCZ) a f fect ing Mindanao. Urbano said they were also waiting for the damage assessment reports on the six houses that were partially damaged by the floods and landslides along the banks of the Marbel River. damaged/PAGE 10
Group claims bees can prop up coco output By Marvyn N. Benaning
THE Beekeepers’ Network Philippines Foundation Inc. (Beenet Philippines) has claimed that bees can actually increase coconut production as pollinating agents and reduce the impact of scale insect infestation. It staged a three-day meet at the compound of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in Quezon City to show how apiculture can prop up the coconut industry, hobbled as it is by senile trees, now running at 60 percent, and the need to replant vast tracts of land that are unproductive at the moment. Beenet’s 19th annual conference and technofora were held from July 25 to 27 and had the theme “Augmenting Coconut Productivity through Urban Beekeeping.” The conference promoted the management of bee colonies as pollinators for coconuts. It also highlighted strategies for colony management and disease prevention, bee foraging sources, social and economic aspects of beekeeping, urban beekeeping and pollination services. Beenet said bees are natural pollinators that can raise the production of economically important crops from 20 percent to 100 percent. “One fruit crop that may benefit from pollination by bees is coconut. The country has around 3.56 million hectares of land devoted to coconut,” the group said. “Bees do not only help in fruit production but also augments the income of farmers in terms of market of bee products. Beekeeping can be done between management schedules in coconut farms so coconut farmers can perform both activities,” it added. Beenet also revealed that bees forage in an area ranging from one to 5 kilometers, depending on what type of bee is taken care of and that they can exploit collecting nectar and pollen from f lowering plants within a big area. bees/PAGE 11
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