THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is allocating P230 million for the development of lands and for the initial seed requirements of the BigMa rice-corn blending initiative of listed firm AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) together with indigenous peoples (IP) in Mindanao.
The program, which will utilize idle IP lands for planting white corn as alternative to reduce dependence on imported rice, is being pushed as the country is currently the world’s biggest rice importer while some Southeast Asian nations have started to put a cap on their rice exports.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said an initial 20,000 hectares of land in one or two regions in Mindanao are being eyed by ANI for the project, which will be in coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the National Food Authority for the supply of rice to be blended.
“In this time of crisis, we need practical strategies that can produce immediate results. Thus, we are calling on our fellow countrymen, the indigenous peoples or IPs, to transform part, if not most, of their idle ancestral lands into vegetable and high value crop farms,” the DA chief said.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with DA and our IP partners to help produce alternative staple food like the rice-corn blend to ensure food security. ANI commits its technical expertise and resources to see to it that this project succeeds from inception to full commercial operations,” said Antonio Tiu, ANI president and chief executive officer.
According to the NCIP, 7.7 million hectares of land are occupied by IPs which is 26 percent of the country’s total land area of 30 million hectares.
As of last year, the NCIP has issued 243 certificates of ancestral domain titles with a total land area of 5.7 million hectares and a total of 1.3 million IPs as rights holders.
