Iloilo eyes to regain title as RP's top rice producer
The province of Iloilo aims this year to surpass Nueva Ecija as the number one rice producer in the country.
Iloilo Provincial Agriculture Office (IPAO) head Ildefonso Toledo said that the province is working hard to regain its lost glory as the top rice producer of the country.
To achieve this, Iloilo province intends to produce one million metric tons of rice this year on its 127,000-hectare rice areas.
Toledo said that implementing the framework for development for the province which is sustainable agriculture through natural farming system, the IPAO trains farmers to increase their dependence on organic fertilizers while reducing their dependence on chemicals and pesticides.
He said that this will help farmers also reduce their production cost and make rice industry profitable.
The IPAO head said that in 2007, Iloilo province has produced 800,000 metric tons of rice for two cropping, enabling it to be the third biggest rice producer in the country.
Toledo said that this is the reason why they are inspired to work hard further to reach the mark of one million metric tons rice production.
The IPAO has also tasked the seed inspectors to ensure that every municipal seed farm produces good quality seeds ready for distribution to farmers during the onset of the cropping season.
Toledo said that planting good quality seeds is a big factor for farmers to have high production, stressing that farmers in Iloilo province could harvest as high as four to five tons of rice per hectare if good quality seeds are used. (PNA)