Wednesday, April 16, 2008 RDC: Land conversion not behind rice shortage By Carlo P. Mallo
AN OFFICIAL of the Regional Development Council in Davao Region (RDC) 11 does not blame the land conversion in Southern Mindanao as the reason for the rice shortage.
"We cannot blame the land conversion (in Southern Mindanao) for the rice shortage," Vicente Lao, chair of RDC 11, said in an interview Monday.
Lao said with only eight percent of the land area in Davao City being used for rice production, it is impossible for the city to be self-sustaining in its rice supply.
"The region has always been a net importer of rice from our neighboring provinces," Lao said.
Most sectors have pointed their fingers to the land conversion of rice lands into cash crops as one of the major reasons for the imbalance in the supply and demand of rice in the country.
"It will be very hard to convince the farmer not to convert from planting rice to planting bananas," Lao said.
According to Lao, a farmer who plants rice will only earn an average of about P30,000 for his one hectare parcel of land, and if the harvest is good may earn P55,00 for the entire year.
On the other hand, a farmer who leases the same parcel of land to a banana company will earn more or less about P15,000 to P20,000 annually for the lease of the land, and if he chooses to be employed by the banana company could earn almost P80,000 annually complete with Social Security System and Philhealth benefits.
"The bottom line is it is an economic decision on the end of to farmers," Lao said. (CPM)
