The Future Of Rice Is "Rice, Plus"

Some 5 months into the introduction of the "New Thinking for Agriculture" by new PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, it is not obvious to rice scientists, rice farmer leaders and farmers that, the way I see it (above, my photograph 20 March 2019, at boundary of Asingan and Urdaneta, Pangasinan):

The future of rice is Rice, Plus.

"Rice, Plus." Those 2 words are my attempt to summarize the Manila Times column of 950-plus words of today, Thursday, 12 December 2019, "Crop Diversification And The Rice Industry's Future[1]," of Manong Willie.

Like it or not, to survive and thrive, PH rice farmers have to be competitive with their Asean counterparts. They have to think rice, plus think beyond rice.

Manong Willie says, "There is a significant (number) of rice farmers who have little or no chance of improving their competitiveness." That is putting it mildly; I say most of our rice farmers are not competitive with their Asean neighbors, and they have to be in order to survive – today, to produce a kilo of rice the PH farmer needs P12.72, the Thai only P8.86 and the Vietnamese only P6.22. That explains why when PH imports rice, because it has to, the price of rice falls.

Manong Willie asks, "What is the future of the Philippine rice industry?" I say it is bright – if it learns to think Rice, Plus.

He says, "I am confident that in the next six years, we can bring down the cost of producing palay (unmilled rice) by as much as P6 per kilo from the current P12.72 per kilo."

The reality is that, Manong Willie says, "There are lands, while still viable for rice cultivation, (that) could become more profitable if planted to other crops." (italics mine) "One of the most feasible solution is for them to shift to more profitable, high-value crops." Note: "high-value crops." That is to say, our PH farmers could be raising less rice for our plates and at the same time raising more pesos for their pockets!

Which high-value crops? Manong Willie mentions vegetables, cassava, corn, pineapple, banana, mango, and nuts. "To shift to more profitable, high-value crops," he says. "This is among the major reasons why the (DA) is crafting the Crop Diversification Strategy."

Now Manong Willie, priest-like, marries farm mechanization with crop diversification, saying:

This is because certain machines... are "crop neutral" or could be used in cultivating other crops, like four-wheel tractors, one-hand (small) tractors, and irrigation pumps.

Crop diversification plus farm mechanization is part of the "New Thinking for Agriculture" that Manong Willie has wrought into the PH world of farming. With that, our farmers can be assured of "Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita" (much harvest, much earnings – my translation).

He says:

When I was in South Korea recently, I witnessed first hand how mechanization was instrumental in making that country's rural areas truly progressive, teeming with wealthy farmers and agribusiness firms.

We want PH rice farmers wealthy! But first, they must think beyond today, beyond rice; they must think Rice, Plus.@517

---

[1]https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/12/12/opinion/columnists/topanalysis/crop-diversification-and-the-rice-industrys-future/663434/