Agri chief bets on achieving rice self-sufficiency in 2019

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Thursday the Department of Agriculture's rice self-sufficiency target can be achieved one year earlier than its original time frame.

"Our target is 2020, but we could achieve it as early as 2019," Piñol said in an interview after a breakfast forum at Klub Filipino in San Juan City.

"As early as 2019 this country will be rice sufficient," he said.

The Department of Agriculture saw a positive "trend" in average rice production per hectare. "We used to be just 3.9 metric tons per hectare per harvest. We are now 4.38 metric tons per hectare per harvest," Piñol said.

The DA is targeting an average of 6 metric tons per hectare per harvest or about 19 million metric tons of palay per year.

Piñol said the DA is embarking on a hybrid rice-planting program to cover around one million hectares and providing small farmers with "easy access" to loan financing. — VDS, GMA News