NextGen Day

MANILA, Philippines — According to a Department of Agriculture (DA) official, the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) played a significant role in the Philippines’ food security during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dr. Flordeliza Bordey, Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Research Institute, noted that thanks to the RCEF, a program formed under the Rice Tariffication Law, overall palay (unhusked rice) output has been stable since September 2019.

“Since the installation of RCEF, our total palay output has only grown.” “I must say, at this time of epidemic, this has largely contributed to the country’s food security,” Bordey added.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, palay production reached 19.07 million metric tons in 2018. (MMT). This was up 5.1 percent from the previous year’s 18.15 MMT and 8.2 percent from the previous year’s level. However, it was 1.1 percent lower than the previous year’s output.

In 2020, the country reached a new high of 19.29 MMT, thanks to the adoption of RCEF. Another record high palay output of 19.96 MMT was set in 2021, owing to a good rice harvest that was 3.45 percent greater than the previous year’s output.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar stated that the country might have easily surpassed 20 million tons of palay in 2021 if Typhoon Odette had not damaged over 130,000 tons of palay.

“However, [this] demonstrates that we are on the right track in our ongoing efforts to improve production of our primary commodities, in collaboration with millions of our farmers, local government units, private sector, and agri-fishery industry players,” Dar stated.

The Philippine Integrated Rice Program, which comprises programs under the RCEF, the National Rice Program, and the Rice Resiliency Project, implemented many measures to enhance rice output last year (RRP).

The RCEF-Seed Program was implemented by the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), which supplied 1.65 million bags (20 kg/bag) of certified inbred seeds during the dry season of 2021 and 1.76 million bags during the wet season of 2022. During the dry and wet seasons, these seeds benefitted about 660,000 and 713, 000 farmers, respectively.

Meanwhile, Bordey stated that approximately 8.5 million bags of rice seeds had been given statewide since the program began in September 2019.

She also asked farmers and fishermen to register with the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to have access to any government-sponsored agriculture aid program.

The RSBSA is a requirement for government services connected to agriculture and fisheries, such as financial aid, subsidiary funding, and insurance.

The RSBSA is an electronic database that contains basic information about farmers, farm workers, fishermen, and other DA agriculture-related recipients. Their information is stored in the DA-Central Office’s agricultural and fishermen register system.

According to the DA, those who are registered in government agencies’ computerized databases are given precedence in the targeting and implementation of their initiatives.

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