Around 23,000 hectares of farmlands in Bohol have been experiencing drought due to hot weather and less rainfall.
Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) Director Salvador Diputado said the department is expecting a decrease in rice harvest because of this incident.
“These rice farms are dependent on rainfall as their source of water,” Diputado said.
He said Bohol is the top rice producer in Central Visayas.
Diputado, however, clarified that the situation is not alarming.
“It’s not alarming. We have seen slight shortage of rice supply but it’s normal because of the lean months,” he added.
Just recently, the National Food Authority in Central Visayas (NFA-7) has noticed an increase in prices of commercial rice from P1 to P2 per kilo. For instance, Ganador is now sold at P56 per kilo from the previous P54 per kilo.
“But by September to October, we can expect the price of rice to stabilize because rice harvest will also start,” he said.
He also revealed that apart from the 23,000 hectares, the province of Bohol also has 27,000 hectares of rice farms that are getting water supply from irrigation.
He said that the average yield per hectare of rice farms in the Central Visayas is only at four metric tons per harvest, much lower, compared to other areas in the country that are producing around 12 metric tons per hectare in every harvest.
“Because our farmers here in Central Visayas are using the traditional inbreed and hybrid variety. That is why we are urging farmers to plant high yielding variety of palay,” he said.
Diputado also said that the presence of NFA rice has not affected the price of commercial rice, because their supply has not fully penetrated the market, due to several factors.
“It depends on the weather, if it rains, NFA cannot deliver their NFA-rice,” Diputado added.
Aside from this, Diputado said that Mindanao is also supplying rice to Central Visayas to augment its demand, since the region is not a rice producing area.
He also clarified that Central Visayas is not experiencing a shortage in rice supply, especially if all the imports would be completed.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
