PHL rice lands shrank by 48 percent since 1980s — PSA


The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has reported that rice lands have shrunk by 48 percent since the 1980s.
From 3,649,882 hectares in 1980, the PSA said that rice lands throughout the country have shrunk to 1,904,301 hectares hectares in 2012. The translates to a loss of up to 1.7 million hectares of rice land.
There are several factors that may have contributed to the situation. Some farmers, who have tilled farm lands for decades, have advised their children against doing farm work leaving some rice lands idle.
The others opt to sell their properties to real estate developers.
According to Sandra Aguinaldo's report on State of the Nation with Jessica Soho on Thursday, the situation has an impact on the country's rice production.
GMA News computed how much rice could have been produced from the rice lands lost from idle farms or land sold to real estate developers.
From 1980 to 2012, about 1.7 million hectares were either sold or left idle.
And, based on data from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), one hectare of rice land could produce up to 40 sacks of rice.
GMA News computed that the country lost up to 70 million more sacks of rice every harvest season.
Melencio Domingo, a farmer, appealed to the government to stop land conversion by preventing farmlands from being sold to developers.
"Sana po, huwag na pong bigyan ng DAR ng permit 'yung mga nagko-convert ng lupa...Para 'yung inaani natin, makasapat sa ating mga Pilipino," said Domingo.
"Para 'yung inaani natin makasapat sa ating mga Pilipino," he added.
With the loss of rice lands, it was pointed out that the process of converting agricultural land for commercial or industrial use should be strictly followed.
"'yung section 65 na 'pag hindi na economically feasible ang lupa for agricultural purposes, pwede na siyang i-convert through application," said Agrarian Reform Undersecretary David Erro.
"Number two, meron tayong tinatawag na section 20 ng Local Government Code na ang isang munisipyo, pwedeng magre-classify ng kanilang agricultural lands sa residential, commercial o kaya industrial," he added.
There are several reasons that the rice produced in the country is not enough to meet the needs of Filipino consumers aside from land conversion, the DAR said.
The farmers have grown old and their children have declined to do farm work while others have stopped tilling their lands because of their low income.
The other factors are population growth and climate change.
"Ilang porsiyento pa lang naman sa ating mga palayan nang nabibigyan ng irigasyon. Kung bibigyan ng pansin, lalo 'yun, ginagawa naman ngayon. Maari kasi 'yun na mado-double ang production mo na later on can cope up with the needs ng ating bansa," he said. — with Margaret Claire Layug/BAP, GMA News

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