AGRI-PINOY RICE PROGRAM

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» Why rice?
» What is the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program?
» What are the objectives of the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program?
» What are the activities being undertaken by the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program?
» Specific interventions provided by the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program
» Specific policy-oriented activities of the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program

 


 

Why rice?

An average Filipino diet is based on rice. It provides half of our calorie requirements and one-third of our protein intake. Rice accounts for 20% of food expenditures for average households, which increases to 30% for households belonging to the bottom third of our society.

As a durable crop that can be relied on to bring good harvest year in and year out, rice is grown in some 3.2 million hectares of land, providing livelihood to more than two million households engaged in rice-based farming, along with millions of farm laborers, and tens of thousands of merchants and traders.

Rice, as a food staple, is an economic commodity. It is both a major expenditure item and a source of income for many households. As food is our most basic necessity, demand for rice cuts across all social classes. Rural households also depend, in varying degrees, on the various stages of rice production for livelihood.

Rice also plays important macroeconomic and developmental roles. Movements in the price of rice have a substantial bearing on overall inflation rates, fuelling concern from policymakers on pricing and fiscal stability. Because a large part of the population remains in agriculture, growth in output and productivity are essential to spur economic development.

Globally, food supply is threatened by a growing demand to feed an increasing population in the face of scarcity in land and water resources. Since a majority of small Filipino farmers and rural households depend on food farming for their own consumption and income, government support is critical to encourage domestic production or self-sufficiency to address poverty, food insecurity, and providing a key ingredient to economic stability in the long term.

It is towards these ends that the National Rice Program plays an important role in the flagship food program of the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.


What is the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program?

The Agri-Pinoy Rice Program is one of the banner components of the Department of Agriculture mainly concerned in rice farming and uplifting the lives of Filipino farmers.

Guided by the principles of the Agrikulturang Pilipino (Agri-Pinoy) framework, the National Rice Program integrates government initiatives and interventions for the agriculture sector, namely: food security and self-sufficiency, sustainable resource management, support services from farm to table, and broad-based local partnerships.


What are the objectives of the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program?
 

The Agri-Pinoy Rice Program plays a key role in the Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP), the central focus of the country's food security policy from 2011 to 2016 and beyond.

With the vision of a food-secure society where farmers enjoy a decent and rising standards of living, the FSSP 2011-2016 aims to achieve self-sufficiency in food staples. Self-sufficiency means satisfying domestic requirements for food, seeds, processing, and feeds through domestic production.

The key target is to produce the country's domestic requirements by 2013. Beyond 2013, the aim is to strengthen national resilience in staples production.
The key strategies are concentrated in the following: (1) raising farmers' productivity and competitiveness, (2) enhancing economic incentives and enabling mechanisms, and (3) managing food staples consumption.
 

What are the activities being undertaken by the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program?

To carry out these objectives, various government interventions are undertaken from the national to the local levels in the form of support to rice production; irrigation; postharvest and other infrastructure facilities; market development services; extension, education and training services; and research and development.
 

Specific interventions provided by the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program are as follows:

A. Production support


B. Irrigation Development Services


C. Other Infrastructure and Postharvest Development Services

  • Distribution of postharvest equipment and machinery, such as net/laminated sacks, construction and rehabilitation of flatbed dryers, mechanical dryers, bag closers/baggers, threshers, combine harvesters, rice cutter/harvesters, shredders, moisture meters
  • Construction and rehabilitation of palay sheds and warehouses, and multi-purpose drying pavements,
  • Construction and operationalization of Rice Processing Complexes, and village-type grain postharvest processing centers,
  • Provision, rehabilitation and retrofitting of biomass furnace to existing re-circulating dryers
  • Validation of farm-to-market roads (FMRs)

  • D. Market Development Services


    E. Extension Support, Education and Training Services


    F. Research and Development Services

    Further, the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program develops, maintains, implements, monitors, and evaluates plans and policies that affect over-all rice production, farmers' welfare, consumer interests, and climate or environmental concerns.


    Specific policy-oriented activities of the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program include:

     Policy review and technical updates;



    Related links : NFA / PhilRice