President Marcos, DA push for increased food production in face of El Nino threat

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr., on February 3, met farmers, local government leaders and officials of the Department of Agriculture in Pampanga to sustain the push for agricultural modernization and increased food production in the face of El Nino.

Around 600 farmers and officials gathered at a rice field in Candaba where President Marcos and Secretary Tiu Laurel showcased the cutting-edge technology of rice combine harvester, an example of machinery that the DA has been distributing to farmers to reduce cost, improve farm productivity and, consequently, raise incomes.

“Inaasahan natin na ang okasyong ito ay magsisilbing hudyat sa patuloy na paglago hindi lamang sa industriya ng palay kundi maging ng buong sektor ng agrikultura sa susunod na mga buwan. Nais kong ibahagi sa inyo ang kahanga-hangang tagumpay ng ating sektor ng agrikultura noong nakaraang taon,” said President Marcos. “Dahil sa ating sama-samang pagsisikap, nagtamo tayo ng tala ng ani noong 2023 na umaabot sa mahigit 20 milyong metric tons ng palay.”

(“We expect that this occasion will signal the steady growth not only of the rice industry but the entire agriculture sector in the coming months. I’d like to inform you of the triumph that our sector had last year,” said President Marcos. “Because of our combined efforts, we managed to harvest in 2023 a record volume of more than 20 million metric tons of (unhusked) rice.”

President Marcos attributed the 1.5 percent increase in rice production last year to the DA’s distribution of better rice seeds and fertilizers.

Because of the record harvest last year, the country managed to lower the volume of imported rice to 3.5 million from 3.8 million in 2022.

The president said the challenge this year to the government’s effort to increase food production is the prolonged dry spell that could be caused by El Nino. He said, however, that interventions are underway to mitigate its impact.

In the long run, President Marcos said, the government will distribute more solar-powered irrigation systems to provide steady supply of water to an additional 180,000 hectares of rice land which should translate to 1.2