Bohol dads issue measures to
ensure stable rice stock

TAGBILARAN CITY. In a bid to dispel fears of rice shortage in the province, Bohol officials led by Gov. Erico B. Aumentado and Vice-Gov. Julius Caesar Herrera took bold steps to ensure sufficient rice supply in the coming days.

Both issued separate statements assuring the public enough rice supply based on the inventory given by agencies concerned including the National Food Authority (NFA).
Herrera said that the provincial government should inform the public of the real score to prevent panic due to the reported shortage worldwide.

Aumentado issued yesterday an unnumbered executive order regulating shipment of palay and milled rice to other provinces. This came following reports that some traders from region eight and Cebu City are on the buying spree of palay supply in Bohol.

For his part, Herrera, who chairs the agriculture committee of the provincial board, proposed to fully subsidize the hybrid and certified seeds under the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) rice program now being availed by the accredited farmers. This means that there'll be zero counter-part from farmers in terms of seed procurement, particularly hybrid rice.

He also said that he would propose to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to lift imposition of irrigation service fees on irrigator-farmers or a moratorium of said fees for the meantime to help ease their burden of sky-rocketing prices of farm inputs.

Moreover, the vice-governor also proposed for a more radical move which is to tax idle lands so that owners can be forced to till the soil. If the lands remain unused, the government should intervene so that additional lands can be planted suited for palay, he said.

The provincial technical working group (TWG) for rice has drawn mitigating measures to ensure continuous supply of the staple food feared to be dwindling due to the reported shortage.

The provincial TWG collectively issued this statement during a half-day meeting last Wednesday of last week at the Bohol Agricultural Promotion Center to address the rice crisis. It assured the growing consumers of Filipinos' staple food. It said that it equated the present situation as a mere "problem" rather than "crisis."

But it admitted that one of the causes that adversely affect the rice supply in the country is the population boom in Bohol with 2.6 growth rate annually. It also noted on the so-called development such as rapid conversion of agricultural farms to residential and commercial purposes.

The group attended by heads of agencies concerned and Herrera has drawn at least four measures despite its claim of no rice shortage in the province. One of these (measures) is the promotion of planting alternative crops apparently to supplement rice in the event of shortage. The people are advised to consume supplemental crops like camote and other root crops. The agencies concerned focusing on rice suggested to utilize NFA warehouses for post-harvest such as storing and encouraging production by increasing areas for planting.

According to the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics, every Boholano consumes an average of 85 kilos of the staple every year, which is lower than the national consumption of about 105 kilos.

In Central Visayas, the levels of rice sufficiency vary, based on BAS data. Bohol, considered the rice granary in the region, has the highest sufficiency of 83%. Cebu had the lowest with 3%; Negros Oriental, 55%; and Siquijor, 31%.

On consumption, daily requirement for the region is 24,769 bags; Bohol, 6,127; Cebu, 14,477; Negros Or., 2,937; and Siquijor, 228.

Inventory in the entire region showed supply will last for about 51 days with a total of 1,270,966 MT for 6.7 population. Bohol's supply of 448,186 MT was expected to last for 73 days; Cebu's 596,186MT for 41 days; Negros Or.'s 190,085MT for 48 days; and Siquijor's 36,186MT for 159 days.

Based on the 2007 data on production, Bohol is number 28 in the country with 163,411 metric tons. It ranked number 20 in area harvested with 70,541MT and only number 74 in terms of yield with average of 2.32MT per hectare.

The province of Bohol harvested a total of 167,411MT; Cebu, 14,769MT; Negros Or., 71,268; and Siquijor, 2,324MT in 2008. These figures are higher than the last five years. (RVO)