Thursday, February 08, 2007
Farmers: Scrap hybrid rice subsidy
By Victor L. Camion
SMALL rice farmers in Negros Oriental criticized the Department of Agriculture (DA) for backtracking on its earlier announcement that it would scrap the failed hybrid rice subsidy program and use the funds for support services.
"When we heard from former DA Secretary Ding Panganiban that they were scrapping the hybrid rice subsidy and focusing on more useful projects, we were overjoyed," said Eugene Quirante, regional liaison officer of the Sentro Saka, Inc. in an interview with Sun.Star.
Sentro Saka, Inc. is a member of the National Rice Farmers Council (Rice Council), a network of various rice farmers' organizations in the country.
Quirante stressed the funds being used to subsidize the handful of hybrid rice adopters should be used for high impact support services like irrigation, affordable credit, post-harvest facilities and marketing support and the promotion of various sustainable agriculture practices.
"This reversal of policy by the new DA secretary, a few months before the elections certainly raises a number of suspicions," Quirante warned.
Quoting NRFC spokesperson Jaime Tadeo, Quirante said even assuming the policy reversal was genuine; the Rice Council questions its wisdom.
"Why do we insist on funding a program that has obviously failed to deliver on its promises?" he said, adding that "the hybrid rice subsidy was intended to lure farmers into hybrid rice production and yet, data shows that hybrid rice adoption remains dismally low."
In fact, he said, many farmers who tried it abandoned it after only one season.
The farmers' liaison officer in Central Visayas also said that there is much to be done to determine the appropriateness and suitability of hybrid rice to our varying farming conditions given its location-specific characteristic.
"Mao gani nga mosaka ang dugo sa mga mag-uuma tungod ana (hydrid)," Quirante exclaimed.
The Hybrid Rice Subsidy Program earlier became embroiled in controversy when reports came out that P544 of the Marcos ill-gotten wealth was supposedly used to fund it.
Fund releases were then hastily approved and released only two weeks prior to the 2004 national elections suggesting they may have been used to influence the outcome of the polls.
He added the hybrid rice program itself was initially touted as the answer to our perennial rice production shortages and yet DA's own data however shows that hybrid rice contribution to overall production is minimal.
In fact, he stressed, six years after it was launched, no significant reductions have been made on our rice imports.
"We knew from the start that local farmers would eventually reject it because of its inherent disadvantages. The high cost of production, greater susceptibility to pests and diseases, and the need to buy new seeds for each planting mean that small farmers will not benefit from it," Quirante added.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (February 8, 2007 issue)
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