Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Existing rice lands cannot cope up with NegOr's needs
THE existing agricultural lands devoted to the planting of rice and corn in Negros Oriental is not enough to feed the whole populace of the province, said Oliver Lemence, communications officer of the Provincial Agriculturist Office.
He said that although there are vast tracts of lands devoted to rice and corn plantation, still the province needs to get its supply from other parts of the country and abroad to meet the daily demand of its residents.
He also said the province now has about 500 hectares of rice fields and an estimated 400 hectares of corn fields for the past years yet it's harvest is still not enough to supply all the consumers here in the whole province.
While admitting that the province has a rice shortage, he said, it is not only Negros Oriental which is facing the problem but the whole country.
Along this line, Lemence said their office is strongly trying to promote the program, which will help solve the problem like improving Gulayan at Palaisdaan Alay sa mga Kabataan (GPAK) and the promotion of organic fertilizers.
Lemence also disclosed that there will be a meeting of the different division chiefs of the agriculture office in order to agree on the studies to be undertaken so that the food crisis will be solved. (EBS)
