Saturday, September 06, 2008 Palay production up: Statistics bureau
THE Zamboanga Peninsula's production output for rain-fed palay in the second quarter of this year has registered an increase of 57.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
This was mainly attributed to the effect in the implementation of GMA-Rice Program coupled with the availability of rain, said the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS).
The GMA-Rice Program implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA) is geared towards achieving sustainable rice self-sufficiency, improving productivity and income, creating employment opportunities and attaining global competitiveness.
The BAS data showed that the registered increase is also attributed to the 68.6 increase in areas planted to palay in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Zamboanga Peninsula comprises of the cities of Dapitan, Dipolog, Isabela, Pagadian and Zamboanga and the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur.
The Zamboanga del Norte province posted the highest increase of about 427.8 percent due to the 232.8 percent increase in the areas planted to palay.
Zamboanga del Norte also posted a productivity increase of 58.6, the BAS data showed.
The total production output for irrigated palay of Zamboanga Peninsula also showed an increase of about 9.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year.
This was attributed to the increase in areas planted to palay by about 10.6 percent.
BAS data showed that two provinces contributed to the increased with Zamboanga del Norte posting the highest by about 364.6 percent followed by Zamboanga del Sur with 18.2 percent.
This was due mainly to the operation of newly rehabilitated irrigation facilities, particularly in Bayog and Mahayag towns in Zamboanga del Sur, coupled with early planting of some farmers due to adequate water supply during the first quarter 2008.
BAS data showed that the availability of good quality seeds from the DA regional office also greatly constituted higher productivity of irrigated palay in Zamboanga del Norte. (BPG)
