Fueled by sustained government interventions like expansion of irrigated areas and use of quality seeds, and good weather, Cagayan Valley (Region 2) is expected to produce record harvests of palay (unmilled rice) and corn for the first semester of the year.

 

In a report to Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala,  DA Region 2 Director Lucrecio Alviar, Jr. said total regional harvest of palay and corn is estimated to reach 1.223 million metric tons (MT), and 852,239 MT, respectively, for the six months of the year.

 

These estimates will be the highest to date versus other first semester regional rice and corn outputs, Alviar reported during the visit of Sec. Alcala to Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya, May 18-19, 2011.

 

Sec. Alcala said Cagayan Valley’s record rice and corn harvests buttresses government’s goal to attain self-sufficiency in rice by end of 2013.

 

He commended the DA family’s sustained efforts in partnerships with Cagayan Valley farmers’ groups, local government officials and other industry stakeholders, during an Irrigators’ Association (IA) congress in Cauayan City, Isabela, attended by 2,000 officers and members of 363 IAs served by the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (MARIIS), one of the major irrigation systems supervised by the DA-National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

 

MARIIS irrigates more than 80,000 hectares and benefits more than 64,000 farmers in Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces.

 

Sec. Alcala said “as irrigation is the lifeblood of agriculture, we will continue to allot and seek more resources to vigorously pursue the repair and rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems, and construction of big systems and small water impounding projects (SWIPs)—all to attain self-sufficiency in rice by end of 2013.” 

 

In Cagayan Valley, such efforts are paying off, as an additional 7,000 hectares were irrigated during the first semester of 2011, said NIA administrator Antonio Nangel.

Additional areas irrigated during dry season reached 6,252 hectares, served by national and community irrigation systems, while 830 hectares were irrigated through SWIPs.

 

Alviar said as of middle of May, only about 3.4% (about 11,000 hectares) of rice farms and 1.4% (3,100 hectares) of corn areas remain to be harvested on or before June 30, 2011. He said for the first semester the total area planted to rice in Cagayan Valley was 298,661 hectares, while for corn, 215,970 hectares.

 

He said the other major factor that contributed to the record-breaking rice harvest is that more and more farmers are using quality seeds — with 150,175 hectares planted to certified seeds, and 20,269 hectares to hybrid seeds.

 

Another factor is that more farmers are using modern sustainable production technologies — a result of the establishment of technology demonstration farms in 262 sites, benefitting 12,584 farmers, Alviar said. 

 

As a result of these efforts, the region’s first semester palay harvest is projected to reach 1.223 million MT, which is 31.4 % more than last year’s output of 930,999 MT and 0.6% more than in 2009 (1.216 million MT) for the same six-month period.

 

Corn harvest is expected to top 852,239 MT, 114% or more than double last year’s yield of 397,417 MT, and 5.6% more than in 2009 (807,290 MT), during the first semester. 

 

Alviar said 2010 is an abnormal year, as prolonged drought caused by El Nino phenomenon reduced production of rice, corn and most crops. Thus, it is better to compare this year’s production with 2009.

 

CagayanValleyproduced 1.746 million MT of palay in 2010, representing 11% of national output (15.77 million MT). In 2009, its contribution was bigger at 12.8% (2.077 million MT) of total national yield (16.27 million MT).

 

Region 2 ranks third behind Central Luzon (Region 3) and Western Visayas (Region 6), in terms of rice production.

 

In 2009, Regions 3 and 6 contributed 17.2% and 13.6%, respectively, to national palay production. Last year, the two regions shared 18.8% and 11.4%, respectively, to total harvest.