Addressing the Effects of Crop Change on Rice Production in Southern Mindanao
This is crop change or crop shifting wherein farmers abandon rice farming in favor of a more profitable crop particularly banana. Such change in crop production gradually contributes to the declining rice-producing areas in the country particularly in Southern Mindanao.
FROM RICE TO BANANA
Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region XI revealed that from the 21,393 hectares planted to rice in 2005 in the region, almost one half or 10,047 ha were already converted to banana farms as there is a huge demand for the said crop in the export market. As of 2007, DA said the demand for fresh banana export is around 7.34 million metric tons valued at $475 million.
The biggest conversion was recorded in. Davao del Norte where big volumes of banana exports came from. From 8,857 ha of ricefield, only 490 ha were left as 8,515 ha are now planted with banana. In Compostela Valley, a total of 1,209 hectares out of 4,984 ha rice lands were also converted as banana farms.
DA Regional Executive Director Roger Chio said that majority of the rice areas converted to banana farms are irrigated areas.
“Although our region is known as the leading exporter of banana, we also need to secure our regional rice requirements as we cannot be dependent on other regions in the country to supply us with rice as they, too, have their own rice requirement,” Chio said.
Chio, however, clarified that the DA cannot just prevent farmers from shifting to other crops especially that farmers are earning more from it.
DA Secretary Arthur Yap during one of his visit in the region admitted that his office cannot just discourage farmers from shifting rice to banana since a free market dictates the supply and demand.
Another reason why farmers are shifting from rice to banana is the lucrative compensation package offered by the banana corporation. The common practice by banana corporations is to lease farmers’ land for 20-25 years. For every one hectare of land being leased, the owner is paid around P20,000-P25,000 per annum. But the rewarding part is that for every hectare leased, one member of the household is employed and paid for at least P90,000-P100,000 per year. So if five members of the household are employed, they can be assured of at least P400,000 income in one year.
GREATER CHALLENGE FOR THE RICE INDUSTRY
Yap said instead of discouraging rice fanners from shifting to other crops, DA is employing all possible means to increase productivity of rice-planted areas.
“The best way to prevent farmers from converting their ricefield to banana plantations is to make rice farming more viable and productive. The challenge really is to look at the profitability and the business side of the industry to ensure viability,” Yap said.
PhilRice Executive Director Leocadio Sebastian said there is a need to maximize profitability in the existing rice areas. He said the best alternative is to intensify rice production efficiency particularly the use of hybrid rice.
According to PhilRice, hybrid rice variety which is also referred to as F 1, is the product of crossing two rice varieties with superior qualities. These superior qualities of both parents are passed on to the offspring and results in a phenomenon called “hybrid vigor” or “heterosis.” The offspring produces long roots and broad leaves that enable it to take up more nutrients and thus, produce more grains. These factors result in higher yields than ordinary rice, which is also called inbred rice.
The attainable increment in grain yield from excellent hybrids over the best comparable inbred is at least 15 percent per hectare. This translates to about 750 kg of additional produce per 5,000 kg of rough rice harvest.
With the decline of rice lands due to conversion, hybrid rice would be the best bet in increasing production even with less land. A 15 percent increase in yield per unit area implies saving 15 percent of these arable lands for other agricultural production purposes. A more diversified and efficient agricultural land use can, therefore, be promoted with the adoption of hybrid rice.
Another viable option according to Sebastian is for farmers to go into hybrid seed production. Although more rigorous than the hybrid rice production, hybrid seed production offers better opportunities in increasing income of farmers.
SUCCESS STORIES CITED
Take the case of Balbino Alingalan in Banaybanay, Davao Oriental. He is now earning millions from hybrid seed production as mentioned by Dr. Sosimo Ma. Pablico in his book Rise with Rice. After successfully producing hybrid rice seeds in 1998, his area devoted to AxR production has been increasing season after season.
“When the area increased to 16 hectares, his average yield reached 1,500 kg per hectare or a total of 24,000 kg worth P2.88 million. From then on, his yield has been averaging between 1,500 and 1,600 kg per ha. Even just at 1,500 kg per ha, Alingalan easily harvested 81,000 kg from 54 hectares, valued at P9.72 million,” Pablico wrote.
Another option for rice farmers to increase their income is through value-adding activities like what Leticia Basabas of Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija has done. Leticia went into rice coffee production and is now earning almost P30,000 monthly from it, as cited by Dr. Pablico in the same book.
Rice farmers can also go into producing organically grown rice like the MagRice of Magsaysay, Davao del Sur. MagRice is sold at P35 per kilo compared to conventionally grown rice sold at P23-26 a ki1o. In producing organically grown rice, the rice farmers’ cooperative is assured of 35 percent premium from their product.
These are just some of the few examples of rice farmers who tried something new and increased their income without actually abandoning rice farming.
Although our agriculture officials clarified that crop shifting has not yet reached an alarming rate, measures must be laid out as this concerns our basic staple. Unless we are used to having banana instead of rice during meal time, rice is still a major food security concern.
