The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lined up programs that will improve local production of rice and seaweeds.
The DA and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) last week entered into a collaborative agreement aimed at boosting rice production through sustainable practices.
The five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) hopes to achieve yield enhancement, production costs reduction, post-harvest losses minimization, marketing efficiency improvement and value addition.
The MOU requires DA and IRRI to carry out activities that would improve extension services and enhance the capacity of public institutions to scale up adoption of farm technology, practices and services.
The parties also agreed to help develop the skills and knowledge of Filipino research and extension workers.
“This agreement with IRRI will help DA realize its vision of a food-secured, globally-competitive and climate-resilient Philippines, where rice farmers reap the fruits of their labor and more investments are poured into agriculture to attract the younger generation of farmers,” said DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., in a statement.
The DA and IRRI will conduct research for development projects with sustainability mechanisms.
The partnership will also involve the transfer of genetic research materials and biological materials.
Meanwhile, the DA said support will be provided for local seaweed producers to boost the potential of the second biggest export earner in the aquaculture sector.
The DA said the local seaweed industry earned around $250 million even during the pandemic and generated export sales of $350 million in 2022.
Tiu Laurel said once dried, seaweed that is harvested would generate around 10,000 tons every year worth P550 million which can be considered “a good return” for a total investment of P1 billion for the industry, including large tissue culture laboratories, dryers, warehouses and training of more technicians.
Tiu Laurel said Indonesia has surpassed Philippine seaweed production.
DA said the Philippines still has over 85,000 hectares of unutilized areas for seaweed production.
The agency said that in the 1990s, the Philippines accounted for 80 percent of the world’s seaweed requirement while Indonesia only produced 10 percent. Indonesia now produces five times more than the Philippines.
Tiu Laurel said major concerns raised by industry include limited support for the industry and lack of seedlings, which could be addressed by having bigger tissue culture laboratories and more technicians.
The DA chief added logistics issues also need to be resolved, by building more ports to take raw materials to processing plants and more power plants to address the high cost of power.
Tiu Laurel also said while most of the seaweeds come from Mindanao, processing facilities are in Cebu and Manila.
He said the cost of logistics could be lowered if containers in Zamboanga are used more efficiently.
DA also acknowledged the local seaweed stakeholders’ proposal to provide support in terms of seedlings, implements, lines, floaters and counterweights to help seaweed farmers, who could produce 70,000 metric tons of seaweeds a year.
